Hearts And Souls
by FruitPastilles
Summary: As a kunoichi, Sakura told herself she wouldn’t care if she died in battle, but when she finds herself in Soul Society, she finds out that death isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Toushiro/Sakura main, SakuMulti
1. Chapter 1

Souls and Hearts

Summary: As a kunoichi, Sakura told herself she wouldn't care if she died in battle, but when she finds herself in Soul Society, she finds out that death isn't all it's cracked up to be. Toushiro/Sakura main, SakuMulti

Chapter One

Sakura cursed silently as the branch she was on made a cracking noise, drawing attention to her, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, little girl,"

She bit her lip, to stop herself shivering at the words, as blood flowed freely from her side, and some trickled from her hairline to her eye, halfway blurring her vision.

Taking half a step forward, she violently yanked her foot back as kunai ripped the branch where her foot had been.

"There you are,"

A fiery pain exploded in her arm, and she jumped away, left upper limb useless.

"Damn it," she hissed. Five miles, that's how far away she was from Konoha, then Sound Nin sprang out of nowhere, with _Sasuke_ in tow, and now she was next to useless.

With a soft _shwick!_ She missed at the last moment, a katana was placed at her throat, and a voice she thought she'd never hear again, whispered at her ear, "We meet again, Sakura,"

"Uchiha," I refrained from nodding, and almost felt his slight surprise at my formality, "Indeed we are both here,"

"You haven't grown much,"

"Neither have you," I smiled, "Your supposed to kill me, not stand about talking about it,"

I grabbed the sword, yanking it, well, I had hoped to, when electricity shocked me through the blade.

"Such a shame," was sneered, then the blade was yanked back, and there was a fleeting moment of pain, before Sakura let out her last breath, _at least I didn't betray my country and friends. You have no honour…Sasuke._

Time Unknown…

"Is she ok?"

"I don't know, she just fell out of the sky,"

"If she just died, doesn't she belong in Rukongai?"

_Died? I Died?_

Sakura tried to force herself to open her eyes.

"Must've died painfully, look at those wounds,"

_So that is what hurts._

"Hey, hey, the tenth division captain is here!"

_Wow it hurts. Where's my chakra? Oh. There it is._

"Do you think she'll get kicked out?"

"Either way, she's dead,"

"But didn't you say I already was dead?" a croaky voice said, as Sakura forced herself into a sitting position, "How can I die again?"

"I ain't explaining,"

Sakura winced as she stretched the gash in her side.

Staring at it with her emerald eyes slightly in pain, a hand entered her vision, and following the arm, the first word she said was, "Tsunade-shishou?"

"No, I'm Rangiku, or Matsumoto, whichever one you prefer,"

"Thanks for the help, but I'm not a child,"

"You're only fifteen,"

"How'd you know?"

"I just do,"

Sakura flinched as the hand moved too quickly towards her again, and with chakra in her index finger, she numbed the arm that was in her bubble.

As everyone stared in shock she quickly stood, and moved her free hand to her side, in a fast motion healing herself, as her other hand was outstretched in an offensive manner.

She turned in a slow circle, eyes narrowed at everyone, violently lashing out with her foot as someone moved, and she smacked her sandaled heel against a sword, not judging the chakra in the movement as she shattered it.

Hands still pointed outwards, she took two steps backwards, and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Matsumoto had regained feeling back in her arm, "She has one hell of a temper, and I haven't felt that much reiatsu since Kurosaki!" she whistled in amazement.

With Sakura…

Sakura was sitting on a large hill that had what looked like a big broken 'H' shape. She was staring at the town spread out in front of her, and was feeling scared, confused, and foolish.

And then a thought struck her. Hands together, almost in prayer, she shouted, "_KAI!"_

Her voice echoed, a scared bird flew away, but apart from that, nothing happened.

Sakura was beginning to despair, "Damnit, damnit, damnit! If only Sasuke hadn't of killed me, if only I hadn't have been relaxing!"

She slammed a fist on the ground, causing a crater.

Letting her shoulders droop, she let herself fall over backwards, angry tears pricking at her eyes, "A kunoichi for three years, and for what? To get killed by my ex-teammate. Jackass,"

She touched the long scar situated on her right side, tracing it.

"What hollow did _you_ tangle with to get hurt like _that?"_

Sakura stood quickly, and whipped around, kunai in hand.

"That's a small Zanpaktou,"

She was facing a boy with bright orange hair, and she stared wide-eyed at the large blade on his back, _shit, shit, shit._

She began making rapid hand signs, before dragging up a wall of earth, and turning around, just as it exploded, she threw herself off the top of the jutting cliff.

"What the hell? All I did was ask a question!"

Sakura was whipping through signs again, before crying out, "Summoning jutsu!" and a large slug appeared below her, as she landed on its head, "Oh thank Kami-sama,"

But it seemed that the slug caused more harm than good as people in black came out and began attacking it. It disappeared in a poof of smoke, and Sakura flipped as she landed on the floor in a crouch, legs trembling.

Not caring she was in potential enemy territory with many enemies surrounding her wielding blades, as tears fell down her face, she brought dangerously shaking hands together again, "Kage-b-bunshin jutsu!" suddenly there were five of her, all jumping in several different directions.

She got as far as she could, before falling to her knees, dry retching.

"_**Finally,"**_

A voice echoed in her head, _**"You stopped long enough for me to get through,"**_

Sakura flashed a shocked hand to her temple, not knowing of the spying eyes from a corner near her, "Who…?"

"_**Tankoushoku Kaki, but you can call me Gachirin," **_

"Pink Fire, but you want to be known as moon. Why?"

"_**Because it's shorter, and awesome,"**_

Sakura smacked her head with the heel of her hand, "I'm talking to myself, talking to myself, what did Tsunade-shishou say to counter insanity? Ah! I don't have the right herbs, or poultices, or ingredients,"

"_**Honey, you can't get rid of me. I **_**am**_** you. Technically I'm a sword, but still,"**_

Sakura pressed her forehead against the dirt, when suddenly a sword as cold as ice slid under her neck. Her whole body shivered, her senses screaming _SASUKE!_

She didn't want to make the same mistake as before, but her breathing began to become shallow, her vision blotting, before her hand whipped up, blade biting deep into her palm, as she grabbed it, throwing it and the person attached over her shoulder.

The zap she was expecting never happened, and the wound sealed fairly quickly.

Looking up, she relaxed her face into a confused look at the boy who looked a little older than her with white hair, and glossy blue eyes that reminded her of Naruto.

_Naruto._

There was a pang in her heart and a tightening in her throat, but she let herself slip into basic ninja instincts, ready to fight tooth and nail, when she spoke for the first time to a stranger almost all day, "I'm coming," before launching to fight.

"_**STOP!"**_ was roared in her head, and her fist stopped inches before a pale face, and she yanked her arm back, jumping back a few metres.

"What?" she snapped to midair.

"_**Don't you want to fight on even terms?"**_

"What do you mean?"

"_**He has a sword, you don't. Want even terms or not?"**_

"Fine,"

"_**Repeat. Tankoushoku Kaki!"**_

"Tankoushoku Kaki!" a pink mist swirled around Sakura's right hand, yanking it into the air, as a hilt, followed by a blade appeared in her hand.

It seemed short for a sword, but it jumped in her grasp, towards the white haired teen, as if eager to hurt him. Every now and then, a pink flame would tremble up it.

Sakura only seemed to notice that her standard uniform had changed.

It was still madly thrashing in her grasp, and it felt like a tug from her body was compelling her to run forward and impale the boy in front of her. And in that instant, she dropped the sword.

She fell on her haunches, "What am I _doing?"_

"_**Living, honey, living,"**_

Tears began falling down her face again, and the sword was yet again in her face, "You're under arrest,"

Sakura grabbed the blade and positioned in front of a very vital organ, and begged, "Kill me! Please! I don't belong here; I have to get back home,"

"Taichou, don't scare her!"

The woman known as Matsumoto pushed the small white person away, and he glared at her as Matsumoto pulled Sakura into a hug, who burst out wailing, and hugged back.

The one known as taichou blinked in what seemed like surprised at the outburst.

"Shh, it's ok." Matsumoto gave a disparaging look at taichou, "Look what you did, Toushiro Hitsugaya, this girl suddenly finds out she's dead, and you up and attack her," she stroked Sakura's hair, "It's ok, it's ok,"

In her calm moment, a shock of urgency hit Sakura.

Sound. Attack. Sasuke. Army. Konoha only _five miles away._

Her fingers clenched suddenly hard into Matsumoto's clothes.

"What's the matter, pet?" Matsumoto cooed, still trying to calm the erratic Sakura, who said, "How do I get back to Konoha? How do I get back? I'm going to be needed in the war!"

"Obviously you're not that needed at fifteen,"

"I'm the Hokage's apprentice! I need to be there! I have to stop Sound, I have to," she trembled and hissed, _"Sasuke,"_

"Who's Sasuke?"

"He killed me," Sakura replied eyes narrowed, "Found him in the forest about five miles from Konoha's gate. The Sound ninja followed me; he caught up, and stabbed me. Course I was already weak from blood loss or I would have kicked him into Wave country,"

Sakura moaned, "Oh god, everyone's going to die. It'll be razed to the ground,"

The orange haired boy from before suddenly appeared, breathing harshly, "I found you!"

But Toushiro shushed him, "Don't interrupt Matsumoto's mother hen mood. It's scary if you do,"

Sakura was trying to push away, "Why can't I go back? Tsunade-shishou, and Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, hell even Sai, without me there my boys can't survive! Suna won't make it there in time, Akatsuki are being too boisterous," she gave a hysterical laugh, "My friends are as good as murdered,"

"Back up," Matsumoto said, "You did say _ninja_ right?"

"Yes! Kunai, shuriken, genjutsu, taijutsu, all that crap, now _let me go!"_

Sakura whisked a foot by so fast that Matsumoto barely dodged, ducking sharply as the limb went sailing over her head.

It gave Sakura the leverage she needed, and she jumped out of the glomp of doom, to crash into the orange haired boy.

He clamped his arms around her, limiting movement, and she glared at him, hair previously held back by her headband framing her face in curls.

She wouldn't stop wriggling though, and freeing a hand, she ghosted it over his head, making his eyes roll, and he passed out, dragging her down on her, but not loosening his grip at all.

"Damnit, he won't let go and he's bloody unconscious! It's like Naruto when we have to share a tent!"

"_Who said anything about being unconscious, hmm?"_

The arms locked tighter, and Sakura froze, having only felt the feeling worming in her stomach twice.

The first time when Orochimaru had attacked her and her team in the Forest of Death, the second with Naruto in four tailed form and out of his mind.

"Hollow," was hissed.

"_Right you are, midget,"_

"_**MOVE, MOVE, MOVE SAKURA! MOVE YOUR ASS, PULL ME OUT DO NINJA SHIT, ANYTHING JUST MOVE!"**_

It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, a weird voice like he was underwater, a killing intent that swamped her being yet wasn't even being used.

Sakura felt sick.

"That's Hitsugaya-taichou,"

"Taichou, there is no time for that,"

"_Wow, is this hair natural? It looks dyed,"_

There was a sharp yank, and Sakura blinked tears away.

"_**FREAKING HELL SAKURA MOVE YOUR BLOODY ASS BEFORE HE KILLS YOU!"**_

_Move, move, move._ Sakura tried to will herself, _move, move, move._

Closing her eyes, she wormed something from between her teeth, wincing at the large grate of metal as it pulled against her bone.

Before anyone or anything could ask questions, she spat out a small senbon needle into her free hand, and in a deft movement, stabbed herself in the shoulder.

The burst of pain jumpstarted her, and reinforcing the blow, she elbowed her jailer in the face, kicking his shin at the same time, before throwing herself forward.

Trying hard to regulate her breathing, Sakura blanked out from the world, and said, in a monotone voice, "I am ready to fight,"

"_Hehe, someone who doesn't care about hurting themselves to get away. Interesting, but your hits are weak,"_

Something in Sakura snapped, and she didn't realise it, but she was subconsciously releasing a lot of reiatsu, her eyes flickering a pink that was darker than her hair colour, "Tankoushoku Kaki,"

"_Zangetsu,"_

Sakura felt a slight thrill up her spine, and as her grip tightened on the hilt jumping in her hand she said, "Sakura Haruno. My pleasure to kill you,"

"_Ichigo Kurosaki's hollow, and while you won't be killing me, I won't be killing you either,"_

"A ninja's word is final," was said in a monotonous voice, before Sakura disappeared off the face of the earth.

The hollow narrowed its eyes, before moving to the left, as a sword embedded itself there.

Sakura stood next to her sword, face portraying nothing, eyes betraying everything.

The girl wasn't in control of her body.

Her eyes were wide in fright, as the sword was yanked out the ground, whipped around and thrown with deadly precision. As the hollow dodged a flurry of shuriken followed, one catching and sticking in his stomach, hidden among the folds of cloth.

Before he could even register what was happening a big ball of _fire_ rained on him, followed by another, and another, when he was hit by a dragon of water.

_Then_ a big block of soil, packed tightly together crashed at unnatural speeds to where he was standing.

Sakura, at that moment regained her senses, and discarding the blade in her grasp with disgust, she jumped at the earth, drawing back a fist, and with a loud, _"SHANNARO!"_ she destroyed it, and it rained soil in itty bitty pieces.

The hollow who was gaining a mask blinked in shock, and before he could move, she had smashed her fist into his face, shattering the mask to show shocked ochre eyes.

Matsumoto acted first, "What the hell was that?"

Sakura suddenly collapsed, as if she couldn't hold up her own weight, hands clenched into fists, "She _controlled_ me. She had every intention of slaughtering everyone here, she used me,"

Growling she suddenly shouted, "God – frigging – damnit!" and slammed her fist into the floor, the ground being thrown in random directions.

"Damnit," she repeated quieter, coughing harshly and spitting out blood, "Why is my life fucked up?"

She spat out more red, before her head rolled on her shoulders, and she fell backwards.

"Sakura-chan!" Matsumoto cried, sliding down the wall of the crater, and cradling the girl's head, "What's wrong?"

"Low on chakra,"

"Chak-ra? What is that?"

"It's kinda like my life-force," Sakura whispered out.

"…"

"I know, I know," he eyelids fluttered, "I'm just so tired. I died and then I fought, then I ran then I used a summoning jutsu, then I ran, then I fight, it just really hurt today,"

Ichigo slid down the crater as well, looking at Sakura with a new light, "I'll carry her," he suddenly offered.

"And where do you suppose we take her?"

"She can stay with us, taichou!"

"I can camp," she said bluntly, "I'll find a tree and camp," she gave a glare at Ichigo who had inched forward, arms outstretched, "Don't make me make you a girl,"

She sat up and stated, "I can-" she fell back over and then said, "Not get up on my own,"

She blinked and couldn't open her eyes, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness before she stated, "I'm not having a damn piggy back, I get too much of that from Lee,"

And her mind went blank.

Next day…

Sakura bowed her head respectfully to the old man as he trotted over, sensing power as well as wisdom with his age, "With permission, may I call you Lord Hokage? It is a name I am familiar with,"

"Permission granted," was rumbled back.

"Thank you so much Lord Hokage," Sakura sighed, and asked the question that had been niggling away at her sanity, "Sir, am I truly dead?"

"Yes,"

"Would it be possible for me to return to Konoha, just to see?"

"Yes,"

Sakura took a double take, head snapping up, hand moving to headband, "Truly sire?"

"I would not lie to one of my own shinigami,"

"When?"

"Right now, I believe,"

Sakura bit her lip, and moved her hand subconsciously to grasp Matsumoto's hand, who had become a Tsunade to her.

"Who with?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki, and your new captain, Toushiro Hitsugaya,"

Sakura smiled happily, but her smile drooped, and as she opened her mouth, the man she had dubbed Lord Hokage said, "No, you cannot kill humans in their dimension,"

She nodded, and slightly deflated and asked, "How do we get there?"

The small person, who although was small, was still taller than Sakura, grabbed her wrist and said, "This way,"

Sakura followed still overwhelmed by everything, and didn't realise she had zoned out until they reached the portal gate that was already swirling, butterflies flapping lazily.

Ichigo stepped through first, disappearing, and Toushiro shoved Sakura. Who was pushed into a Warfield.

Sakura's jaw almost dropped, and tears blurred her vision angrily, but she swiped them away violently, "Damn you, Sasuke,"

He fists were shaking, and Ichigo was swaying his head side to side, "Well, d-" he was cut off by a shout of, _"RASENGAN!"_

"_CHIDORI!"_

"Naruto!" Sakura cried in relief, running off, and teammates forgotten as she picked her way between the corpses before screeching to a halt.

Ichigo admitted to himself that it was a pretty blonde, not exactly beautiful, what, being covered in blood and all but it really shocked Sakura for some reason.

"Ino, Ino, Ino," Sakura wailed, "Why'd he kill you, you're my best friend, my best friend, why are you dead? Wake up, tell me you'll wake up!"

She touched the cold body's neck, "Pulse, please have a pulse," she was finding it hard to talk through the tears.

But her fears were realised, "No, no, no, Ino, breathe! Breathe!" she smacked the corpse's chest, slipping into medic instincts of CPR, not paying attention to the gaping hole in the girl's chest.

"Come on!" she screamed, now shaking the cold shoulders, "Wake up! Call me a bitch, or insult me, anything! Just don't let Sasuke win!"

She was dragged off by Toushiro as she began to turn hysterical, "Don't do this to me! Is it karma? For falling in love with an Uchiha, is it? I love him, he kills me and every one of my friends? What sick thing is going through your mind?"

She pulled away stumbling forward again, when the sounds of battle got closer.

A blast of fire shot past and Sakura ran suddenly leaving the others hard pressed to keep up, "Naruto!" she shouted, "BEAT HIM! Kick his ass!"

There was a spiky blonde haired boy who surprisingly was covered in a red colour, and a…thing that was grey skinned with hand shaped wings protruding from its back.

Naruto seemingly heard, being possessed by a demon, and slid crimson eyes over to Sakura, widening momentarily, before grabbing Sasuke by the neck and throwing him as the Uchiha took advantage of the momentary cease fire.

"_**Sakura?"**_ the voice was guttural, not entirely Naruto, Kyuubi waiting to burst from beneath the surface.

Sakura didn't trust her voice, but nodded, tears cascading. The blonde shot forward, crushing her in a hug, suffocating red chakra consuming her, swallowing, _**"I thought he killed you,"**_

"He did," Sakura waved a hand towards Ichigo and Toushiro, "There are my new teammates,"

Naruto's eyes glazed over the two, twisted in hate, and he growled, _**"I don't trust them,"**_ his grip around Sakura's shoulders tightened.

Sasuke was perched in a tree, watching with Sharingan eyes, interested.

"I don't really, either, but they helped me come to terms with my death,"

"_**But you're not entirely dead! You're here, you're talking to me! Kyuubi could bring you back, I'm sure!"**_

"I'm not allowed Naruto,"

The boy's eyes flashed dangerously, and Toushiro drew his blade, Ichigo slowly following.

"_**You are **_**not**_** going again, Sakura, I'll keep you here by force. I can bear losing one teammate, but all three…?"**_

"What the hell happened to Kakashi,"

"_**He took a hit meant for the old hag Tsunade, but she still died anyway, cause of that bastard over there,"**_ he jerked his head in Sasuke's direction.

Sakura pulled away from Naruto, turning pleading eyes to the two men behind her, the short one shaking his white mane, "What the captain said is final. You may not kill anyone here,"

"But he didn't say you two! You'd be allowed, please," Sakura buried her face in Naruto's chest, one covered by dried blood and bright red chakra.

Naruto purred once, and licked her cheek before reluctantly saying, _**"Kyuubi says he is too scared of messing with shinigami and he wishes you luck. And that it is true that your kind are not allowed to harm the living,"**_

He retreated, giving a meaning glance to the Uchiha who silently drew his katana.

"No, Naruto, don't do this!"

"_**I'm the last Sakura, Konoha is no more. The place you thought of your home. It's gone, and soon I will be too, when I remove the seal. I'll take Sasuke with me though, so don't worry,"**_

Sakura was grabbed by strong tan arms, and pulled away, "No! This can't happen, it wasn't supposed to! What happened to Team Seven's Happy Ending?"

"_**There's no such thing as happy endings, Sakura-chan. I'm sorry,"**_

The chakra grew thicker, denser, and more powerful.

"_**I always loved you Sakura, even when you didn't love me. I'll miss you,"**_

Tails began to form rapidly, skin peeling as Sasuke threw himself at the rapidly growing Uzumaki, as he threw back his head and howled in anger, fury, and something Sakura identified as loss.

"The blonde will die well,"

Sakura sagged in the grip, hands tightly grasping fingers around her waist, "I think I need a few centuries locked up in a room,"

The white haired boy called forth a butterfly and said briefly, "I have sweets for comfort eating, do not worry,"

"That's not what I'm saying,"

Sakura smiled up, breathtakingly beautiful, heart wrenchingly sad, "I'm saying I need time for my heart to heal, before it breaks completely,"

And that day, in the ruins of Konoha, the sky wept as two ninja's, one more animal than anything fought tooth and nail to the death, and three shinigami, one with pink hair, one with orange and the last with white hair left a once proud village in the dark, it's residents in the beyond.

Konoha loved, but not forgotten, the last semi survivor living in a world apart from her own, as pure as angels, yet as dark and as deep as the bottom of ocean, and if you listen closely, from this special place, you can hear the gentle sound of a once innocent heart breaking.

To be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

There was a loud knocking, "You have to come out sometime! You've been in there for six days!"

Sakura was curled up in the bed, which she had pushed in front of the door. Dismantling the cupboard she had boarded up the window. The room was all but impenetrable.

Her eyes were closed, her hands faintly trembling. She wasn't awake, sleeping for the first time in said many days.

And her dreams weren't pleasant.

So, on the seventh day, in the middle of a nightmare, she shot awake, and accidently kicked her door halfway down the hallway, her teammates seeing her for the first time in a week.

She stood like a deer in headlights, before ducking under the bed, hands over ears, eyes scrunched shut.

"Sakura-chan, are you ok now?"

There was no answer and Matsumoto crouched, trying to reach, "Damn, she's too small," she stood, "Taichou! Can you get Sakura out from under the bed?"

"She finally came out?"

"She broke down the door,"

"Well I can't, Renji fukutaichou is here on business, we need to talk"

There was a whimper under the bed, audible even down the corridor.

"…I'm coming,"

Toushiro ambled down the corridor, a curious tattooed redhead following him, hand on hilt of sword.

Toushiro crouched next to Matsumoto, and sidled under the bed.

Sakura opened green eyes, and gave him a curious look which stopped him slightly, before she moved towards him hand shaking, outstretched.

Then Renji ducked down, she saw him, and she cringed back into the corner, huddled smaller than before.

Matsumoto grabbed his collar, and threw him away, "Make yourself useful and stay away,"

Toushiro backed out, "We can't move her, we have to move the bed,"

"I'll get out," a small voice whispered, and Sakura slowly inched forward, a pale hand, followed by another, a pink head, shoulders and the rest of her body.

She sat back on her haunches leaning against the bed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like I did; I let emotions get in the way of my work, and halted actions necessary for survival,"

"Is that pink hair natural?"

Sakura made a face, then smiled, then looked sad, then grinned and said, "Pineapple," before growing upset again and saying, "Shikamaru," in a desperate tone.

The man looked offended at the words, making a face that had Sakura giggling despite the sorrow on her face.

"Sorry. It's just about now that you say troublesome while rolling your eyes,"

"What like this? Tch, troublesome," the man did said action, and Sakura burst into gut wrenching laughter, "Now it would be coincidence if you had the IQ of over two hundred,"

"No, he doesn't have that much," a new voice said, "He's just a freeloading pineapple,"

There was a quiet grumble, and all eyes turned to Sakura, who turned away bashfully, "I just got hungry, sorry,"

"_Just?!"_

She pushed a hand in a pocket and said, "I've been living off soldier pills," and as if on cue she popped one in her mouth.

She crunched it, shivered at the taste and shook the bottle. The lack of rattling showed it was empty.

Matsumoto suddenly grabbed her hand and stood her up, "I'll introduce you to everyone in Seireitei!"

Sakura bit her lip, before smiling a true smile, one that made her shine, "Then I can make new friends, and new a new family!"

Matsumoto crushed her in a hug, "I call sister!"

"I think she needs to breathe, Matsumoto-san,"

Sakura was let go and bent over, breathing in gulps, before straightening out, "No more Sasuke emo moments! Shannaro!"

She punched the air, and ran from the room, when there was a loud crash, "DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY!"

A loud giggle, then an apology, "I'm sorry good sir, you startled me, I have had a lot on my mind recently, and a scenario of my home burning to the ground stuck in my head. I'm Sakura Haruno. It's very nice to meet you,"

"Byakuya Kuchiki. Have you seen my Lieutenant? He has red hair,"

"You mean Pineapple? Yeah, he's with nee-chan, Shiro-chan and Ichi-chan,"

Said chan's except for Matsumoto twitched, while the big busted woman grinned madly.

She walked down the corridor to see Sakura smiling happily up at a black haired man who stared down impassively at her, before twitching up a hand and ruffling her hair. As he passed the fukutaichou, she heard him say something that sounded suspiciously like, "Cute kid…"

Sakura was bouncing up and down on her heels, and said, "Can we learn kidou? I heard someone outside my window complaining about it the other day,"

Matsumoto nodded and Sakura jumped happily, pointing at the door, "They said, _O lord, mask of flesh and bone, __all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man, truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!__ Way of Destruction thirty three: Sokatsui!"_

The force almost equal to a supernova burst from her fingertips, throwing her backwards down the corridor, smacking the floor, and flipping and rolling through the air before coming to a stop upside down against the far wall, head at an angle, "THAT WAS COOL! LET'S DO IT AGAIN!"

"Not here," Matsumoto said, slightly singed, "And you might want to have a shower and change clothes…"

The backlash of power had torn Sakura's clothing, and had blackened her pale skin.

Sakura looked down at herself, flipped through hand signs, and was doused in water, and then she summoned a clone and quickly changed clothing with it, dispelling it after, "Ready!"

Matsumoto gaped. That transformation was so quick that if you blinked, you would've missed it.

Sakura ran forward, grabbed her hand and said, "Where's the training field, huh, huh, huh? I feel so repressed, like I'm going to EXPLODE!"

She held a hand over her heart, "Wow, I think I just did, I'm going a mile a minute and oh my freaking god that man has bells in his hair,"

"That's Zaraki Kenpachi, honey, he loves to fight,"

Sakura made a face, "His sword isn't happy though, is it?"

"How'd you know?"

"I'm a ninja. I see underneath the underneath. The sword is unhappy,"

The man caught her staring, and gave a bloodthirsty grin. Sakura squealed in happiness, "An eye patch!"

"There you are Yachiru!"

Sakura who had been waving let her hand droop, "I'm Sakura,"

The man frowned and she bowed her head, "Sorry for not being the person you wanted, but you could come play kidou with me and nee-chan if you want! I want to make things go splodey again,"

She waved her hand in example, "I mean fire I can do, but _blue_ fire _that_ big! Only an Uchiha could do something of that magnitude, but not necessarily that colour and theirs don't backlash or rip giant holes in walls…Anyway, its good fun! Want to play?"

"Where's your Zanpaktou?" he cut off her rant.

It was like flipping a coin, her expressions changed from open and free to hostile, cold and wary.

"_**Finally, someone cares,"**_

Sakura ignored it and stated, "I will not bother myself with a katana such as that again,"

"Can't be a Soul Reaper without one. Gonna have to kick you out,"

"_**I won't take over unless I need to. Blade's honour,"**_

To her side, Sakura asked, "Matsumoto-san, how trustworthy is a Zanpaktou's blade honour?"

"You'd trust your life and soul to it, why?"

"I kind of like it here, I don't want to be kicked out,"

Stretching out a hand, her green eyes flashed the dark pink as she murmured, "Tankoushoku Kaki,"

She poked out an experimental foot, to see if she could move while holding the blade, when quiet suddenly, the sword of the man across from her was buried in her stomach up to the hilt.

"Sakura…!" Matsumoto gasped, giving a glare at the captain, before Sakura giggled, "I'll admit that hurt, but then again I've had worse," she looked at the sword, "Two inches to the left, and you would've hit me where I was stabbed Orochimaru,"

She looked at the Zanpaktou uncharacteristically still in her palm, "I don't like fighting on my own. I've had teammates for too long,"

The pink flashed, and stayed, "So I guess it wouldn't do no harm to let my Zanpaktou do the fighting for me,"

The sword jumped violently, flames sparking into life as Sakura grabbed the hand on the hilt of the blade in her stomach, and pushed away as hard as she could. Fingers bending and flipping through signs, the hole sealed, and she relaxed her stance.

Matsumoto stood at the side gasped as she felt the intimacy between blade and wielder. They weren't fighting individually, rather, moving as one, both girl and spirit, closer than she had ever felt with Haineko. Kenpachi didn't stand a chance.

Sakura bent at the spine, touching her toes as a ballet dancer would, blade horizontal to the ground before straightening, "Let's _**begin,"**_

Jumping, she cart wheeled, letting out three consecutive waves of pink fire as she did so, landing smartly on her feet, and swinging her sword around, as it clashed with the steel of the other, brining up her hand to press it against the flat of the blade, "Thank you Neji," she murmured, using her hand that had held the blade down to jab quickly at her attacker's abdomen.

The sword clattered to the floor near her feet as he coughed up blood that splattered her feet. She was much too worried about it impeding her sight rather than the fact it was _blood_ on her face.

"Clever," he spluttered, "Cutting of my reiatsu and making it hard for me to fight. I acknowledge you, little girl. Your no-"

He didn't finish as Sakura's once again green eyes flashed in anger, and grabbed his neck, she _threw_ him, a bulk at least three times her weight, as she screamed, "DON'T CALL ME SMALL! I'M VERTICALLY CHALLENGED, AND MEDICINE STUNTS YOUR GROWTH!"

Dusting her hands she said cheerfully, "I feel so much better now,"

Matsumoto sweat-dropped and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have been at 'that time of the month' when you died, were you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You stay as you died in Soul Society. You are now constantly PMSing,"

"Eh, I can live with it. Now, kidou, kidou, kidou!"

"Heh, Kenpachi's flying body is going to attract a lot of attention,"

Sakura turned to the black speck, "Shall I go get him? I think I threw way too hard,"

"How strong are you?"

"I could hit one tree at one end of a forest so hard; it would fly out the other end,"

"…How do you know this?"

"Forest of Death. Was training at one side, Naruto the other. I knocked over a ten kilometre line of trees by accident. It split the whole thing, as well as a tower in half,"

"Holy s-"

"Matsumoto, I hope you aren't going to swear," a cold voice said.

"Sugar. Holy sugar,"

Sakura stuck her hand in the air, "I like sugar. By the way, are you stalking us? I'll make you a woman, I swear to god I will! I did the last stalker, but Sai was 'dickless' anyway…"

"You were stalked?"

"Multiple times! Once by my teammates, twice by a homicidal maniac who thought I was a walking talking art, and this white haired man called Jiraiya who stole my panties while I was still wearing them. He still has the scar, but then again, so do I,"

"Scar?"

"He accidently hit me,"

Sakura moved her collar, "And then Tsunade-shishou sent him to hospital,"

On her porcelain neck, there was a jagged scar that ran down her front, disappearing into her clothes.

"It was defence, kind of. Naruto went four tails; I accidently got in the way, sliced in half, blah de blah. Hey, I think at that time I caught a glimpse of a sandy place, and a blue haired man gave me the evils," she giggled, "He had teeth stuck outside of his mouth,"

The captain and his subordinate gave each other a look.

Sakura stuck her hand in the air, and asked patiently, "Is it time for kidou?"

"_You_ were the one that ruined my office?"

Sakura bowed her head, official when it came to her superior, "Sorry, taichou. I will take responsibility, and not only clean the mess I have made, but sort out as appropriate. Please punish me as you desire,"

This startled the white haired teen, and he suddenly erupted in a red face, hiding it under his hand as he said muffled, "That is not necessary, Haruno,"

"Hai, shishou,"

Sakura accidently slipped out the honorific, and clapped a hand over her mouth, turning red up to her ears.

Toushiro was faring no better.

Sakura spluttered on her words and there was a chuckle.

"_**Getting in on the action without me, hmm? Shall I step in?"**_

Before Sakura could protest, her mouth opened and Gachirin said, _**"Hey, midget. Sakura here is very delicate, you think of starting a relationship, don't break her heart or I'll rip you into itty bitty pieces, and feed them to the Pineapple dude,"**_

Sakura coughed and dribbled, prodding her throat, "How does my anatomy do that? I didn't know we could be born with more than the set of vocal cords we had." She seemed a bit worried as she asked this next bit, "Hey, I'm still human, aren't I? Apart from the fact of a voice in my head, a sword that halfway takes over my body, and the fact that said voice is seriously violating my privacy by calling every other man here 'hot'?"

"_**Bwahaha, did you see that Pineapple looking man? He had a body to **_**die**_** for,"**_

Matsumoto saw Sakura's freaked out look, before she screeched, "That is not natural! I do _not_ bend that way! My spine! My innocent eyes! Make it stop!"

Toushiro was frowning at the tendencies of the pink haired girl's Zanpaktou

Sakura blinked, "She's gone,"

"_**But what about the possessed orange haired teen, hmm? I could just salivate,"**_

Sakura almost threw up, and rubbed her temples with her fingertips, "Calming thoughts, I am thinking calming thoughts. Nee-chan!? How do I block my Zanpaktou? I _don't _think of Ichi-chan that way!"

This time she smacked her head with the heel of her palm, humming and a voice asked, "What don't you think of me?"

Sakura froze, and turned to look at Ichigo, as she whispered, "Run."

He didn't seem to hear, as she launched at him, legs around his waist, hands on his shoulders, and the furthest she got was a ghost of a kiss before she regained her consciousness.

She stuttered an apology, before Ichigo's eyes glazed, and he grabbed the back of her neck, tangling his other hand in her bubblegum locks, pulling her in for a rough kiss.

Matsumoto flushed at the display, turning her head, and Toushiro coughed but was ignored.

Sakura seemed to be in a different world, as her body went limp after the first thirty seconds or so, pushed up against him.

Ichigo eventually pulled away, and there was a trail of saliva linking them, Sakura's lips were bruised and swollen. Her eyes that were shaded in lust suddenly brightened in realisation.

Sakura made a funny clicking noise in her throat, and then shivered in the light hold Ichigo still had her in.

In a split second, she had pushed away with her feet, and flew upside down in the air, before gracefully landing the flip, hand covering face, unreadable emotions swirling in her eyes.

"Sakura-chan?" Matsumoto moved towards her, and the girl's head snapped in her direction so fast, it almost broke.

She let out a small giggle, "I have a horny Zanpaktou,"

"_**WHOO! NOW **_**THAT**_** WAS ACTION! GET HIM AGAIN BABY! JUMP HIM!"**_

"Nope," told herself, "I am _not _jumping _anyone,"_

Matsumoto blushed, "Pardon?"

"I told Gachirin, that no matter how much she wants it, I'm not gonna jump anyone, Ichigo being the exception," she raised a hand, "SORRY ICHI-CHAN! GACHIRIN MADE ME! YOU'RE A GOOD KISSER THOUGH!"

The shinigami blushed a colour that matched the implication of his name.

The shout caught a lot of attention, from various shinigami, and Sakura laughed quite evilly, this obviously being her intention all along, "Feel the burn. You freaking took advantage of me, now you're getting it back,"

"You're sadistic, Sakura-chan,"

"Eh, only when I need to be. It's the dude that looks like a lady!"

Toushiro by now, was being annoyed of her ignorance, and dragged her roughly from the field, "What do you think your doing?"

"Staying happy," she replied bluntly, "I don't want to mope, I don't want to curl up in corner, and I don't want to be weak,"

"You're anything but weak, Haruno-san,"

"Then you don't know what it was like in the Ninja world," she said, "Eight year olds, forced to fight, ten year olds forced to kill, twelve year olds, forced to flaunt themselves off, fifteen year olds, charged to kill S Rank missing nin, older and more experienced. He killed Chiyo-baasama, his own grandmother! It's a harsh place, and I was one of the weakest and that is why I am here,"

"Well, people don't get that strong here. Except Arrancars."

"I guess. Hey, can we get ice-cream?"

"Ice-cream?"

"Yeah, from that shop over there,"

Sakura pointed, and Toushiro nodded, forgetting that he still had hold of her hand as he pulled her over, "What flavour?"

"Vanilla,"

"One vanilla," Toushiro said currency in his hand as he held it out. He was given the cone and he turned to Sakura who frowned and asked, "Don't you have one?"

"I don't want one,"

Sakura narrowed her eyes, and scooped some ice-cream on her finger, before pushing it into Toushiro's mouth, "Then have some of mine," she smiled, eye twitching, "Because I hate it when people spoil me, and forget about themselves, because they generally want me to sleep with them,"

She grabbed his hand holding the dessert and shoved the cone to his face, "You have some then I have some, then we repeat, agreed? If not, I'll dump the whole thing on your head, and you'll have hell trying to find me for the next three months,"

He scoffed, "How?"

"Henge,"

Sakura changed to a small mousy girl with long brown hair before she smiled mischievously and splattered the ice-cream on the taichou's face, before dragging a finger down his cheek and licking it, "See you later, taichou,"

She skipped off, high-fiving a confused Ichigo, and promptly disappeared.

Toushiro licked his lips, "Damnit," he mumbled, as ice-cream tricked down his face.

With Sakura…

She had turned back when she was out of range of sensing and sight, and was standing at the portal, hand flashing up and catching a butterfly, "I don't get how people teleport with butterflies. It's all messed up,"

She held it lightly, and grabbed it by the wings, as it thrashed in her hands. She sat on her haunches, and murmured, "Lord Hokage, what do shinigami do?"

The elderly man stood behind her, staring out at the portal, "We protect the living world from hollows,"

"Who was the shinigami that Sandaime Hokage summoned to try and kill Orochimaru?"

"That was myself,"

"What did you do with the arms?"

"They have been destroyed,"

"Cool," she let the butterfly go and it limped through the air, before straightening its flight pattern and whirling to rejoin with its brothers, "What are hollows?"

"Souls which are sad, or angry. They eat other souls, those generally with more reiatsu than normal people,"

"And you kill them with your techniques of kidou and Zanpaktou fighting?"

"Yes, and I believe you yourself are quite adept at these,"

"I may have fought a few times, and blown a huge hole in my division, but I think I'm far from ready,"

"I don't believe that, Haruno-san. Next time a hollow attacks, I will personally send you out,"

As if on cue there was a loud clanging whine.

"What's that?"

"A hollow attack. Good Luck,"

The old man fondly dubbed Lord Hokage, reached up, plucked a butterfly from the sky and placed it in Sakura's hand, cupping her palms together, before pushing her through the gate, "Go my child, and realise that this life is better than you believe it is,"

Karakura Town…

Sakura was pushed and she bumped noses with a large wall.

Wait. It wasn't a wall. It was a giant thing with a white mask, and a man standing high in the air with blue hair was near it.

_Now what?_

Sakura asked herself, and she tapped the creature's side, "Excuse me?" she yelled, "Do you know where a hollow is?"

"**I am it, foolish shinigami,"**

"You ain't so bright yourself, telling me what I wanted to know,"

She pointed joyfully, "Do you bleed?"

"**Not as much as you will!"**

"Good…" she only thought the words. She was going to say them, when the supernova yet again burst from the tips of her fingers, and instead of wasting some of its energy on backlash; it all flew into the face of the large hollow.

It exploded on impact, and a crack appeared in the mask, **"Damn you shinigami, you will pay!"**

Sakura blinked, "Can I ask you something? Which would be easier to fight with? Zanpaktou, or chakra,"

"_**Phwoar, have you seen that man up there? He has a **_**nice**_** ass,"**_

"SHADOW-CLONE JUTSU! AND I DO NOT NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FLYING PEOPLE'S ASSES!"

Sakura was multiplied by at least fifteen, and she took into account the size of her opponent, biting her thumb, and shouting, "SUMMONING JUTSU!"

A large slug appeared, and she ran up its back, arms behind her, as she whipped out a kunai, jumping off the head, and plunged her kunai into the eye hole. The hollow screeched as jet black blood sprayed over her, and the fifteen clones followed, each depositing their own kunais into the creature.

Sakura gave a glance to the floating man, noticing it was the one when she had almost died, and connected it with the hollow. She pulled out shuriken, and as she was falling, she threw them, diving headfirst at least fifty metres towards the ground.

Hands flashing, mouth moving, an invisible power cushioned her fall, letting her gently on the floor. She tapped her foot against her ankle

Staring up disgruntled that the man wasn't even fazed, she didn't feel the presence behind her until a voice hissed, "Grimmjaw,"

"Ichigo…"

"Sakura!" was yelped, and the girl blushed, "I was being ignored,"

"You brought a pet then, Ichigo, hmm?"

There was a crack, as the floor beneath Sakura suddenly gained a zigzag, followed by several, as the girl trembled, reiatsu growing rapidly with anger, "Who. Are. You. Calling. A. PET?!"

The man was floating down, "Seems she has attitude. You're a bad trainer,"

"Ichigo, is this man an exception to the rule, because I really want to cut him a new mouth,"

"Yes. He's allowed to be killed,"

"Wait, wait hold-up, this girl is a _new_ shinigami? Whoa, they must be desperate; I reckon I can kill her in less than three moves,"

"Tankoushoku Kaki," Sakura narrowed her eyes and whispered the last word, "Bankai,"

The black blade in her palm pulled up into the air and was swallowed into a pink sphere. There was a high pitched whine then dozens and dozens of kunai were launched at Grimmjaw, and behind the sphere a shadow was growing.

"_**I'm free! Hey honey, miss me?"**_

The lady had long pink hair, waist length, mischievous eyes and a flowing pink, purple and white kimono. She was holding two swords, one black with a pink hilt, and the other pink with a black hilt. A perfect ying-yang.

Gachirin handed the swords to Sakura who knew what to do somehow. She cut her palms on them and the deity grinned viciously at Grimmjaw, _**"Let the games begin, while they can,"**_ the grin turned deadly, insanity lurking beneath, _**"Because sooner or later, the world will burn,"**_

And so, an entity not quite Zanpaktou, and a shinigami half there along with a not entirely in control Vizard, they faced a battle that would be the first of many.

A battle that would determine whether the young kunoichi would change her mind on the side she was. Or face a darker self that has been locked away since birth.

To be Continued…

So…I decided, with SakuMulti as part of the pairings, that you can vote who you want to see her with, Arrancar or shinigami alike, and if you want the twist in it, because I don't want to spring something big then find out you don't want it…yeah…anyhow, see you next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Sakura was pelting off attack by attack, not stopping, and Grimmjaw was hard pressed to keep up, when he caught an opening.

Sakura dodged to the left, but Grimmjaw swung his sword around the other way, hand pulling up for a cero near her head.

She leaned back, but the edge of the hollow attack clipped her shoulder.

Gachirin was sitting back on her backside watching with a Gin like smile.

But by now, Sakura was visibly slowing down. Glancing over her shoulder, she kicked Grimmjaw away, jumped Ichigo, and kissed him hard on the mouth.

He didn't have time to contemplate this though, as she began to drag his reiatsu out, and Gachirin cooed, _**"My sweet little succubus,"**_

Sakura glared at her, and let go, flipping back to hit Grimmjaw, "Hate you," she shouted at the Zanpaktou, and the spirit waved her hand,_** "Sure you hate me, that's why I'm here,"**_

Whirling around the left blade, she shot forward with the right, spinning so her back faced Grimmjaw just before her left blade's flat hit his side, not piercing, but leaving a cracked rib.

She whipped her sword again, throwing off an arc of black energy, and she gave it a weird look, until Grimmjaw slammed a knee in her stomach, causing her to slip to the floor.

Coughing out blood Sakura tried pushing herself up, when Grimmjaw kicked her over again. Gachirin stood in anger, kimono billowing outwards, and skin turning pale, eyes flashing gold.

She pointed, _"__**What are you doing**__?"_ the reiatsu was stifling but familiar, and Ichigo gasped, "You're a hollow,"

Gachirin slid yellow on black eyes at him, before facing Grimmjaw, and hissing, _**"Stay away from Sakura,"**_

He kicked again, "Nah, I'm having fun,"

Gachirin disappeared. And Sakura promptly exploded in reiatsu.

"_**So unwise,"**_ was spat out, _**"And now it's my turn," **_

Ichigo edged round, till he saw the front of the girl. A hole was lazily working itself through her neck, white gathering on her cheek, tracing the jaw line.

Sakura stood up slowly, green eye leaking black, a devious smile on her face, as she held out a palm, _**"Remember the cero? Well, say hello again!"**_ a red sphere shot from her fingertips missing Grimmjaw by inches.

Sakura examined her hand and stated, _**"We are not entirely merciless, Sexta Espada,"**_ her green flecked with gold eyes locked onto him, _**"If you're a good little boy, we'll give you ten seconds to run, if you apologise to us,"**_

"Which are you? The girl or the hollow?!"

"_**B**_o_**t**_h,"

"Fuck…"

"_**Apologise,"**_

"Shit, I'm sorry, ok? Ten seconds, right?"

Sakura held up two hands, fingers slowly folding inwards.

Grimmjaw disappeared.

Sakura turned to Ichigo, _**"Wow, we're tired!"**_ she yawned, and the goldish tint left her eyes making her blink, "That is so disorientating,"

"You! Hollow! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Sakura flinched away from him, tears pricking at her eyes, "I was just doing what was necessary to live, to survive. I knew every second I could die, so could Gachirin. The instinct is in my blood. If I were told to kill you right now, just so I could live, I would, because you aren't my division," she looked at the ground, "I'm selfish,"

Ichigo winced at the reaction, "Sorry,"

"It's ok; it's drilled into my head anyway,"

The sword on the floor flew away in dust, and she waved a hand, "Shall we leave?"

"I've got to stay. Er…things to take care of, you know, probably won't be back for a couple of days,"

"Ok," Sakura looked up at the sky, and a butterfly flew out. A wide white square folded open in front of her, and she stepped through, one last smile thrown over her shoulder.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, and ambled slowly towards the direction of his house.

Sakura…

"_Naruto, to the left, Sai, right, Sakura, back me up,"_

"_Hai sensei,"_

"_Hai,"_

"_Where is it…?"_

"_DAMN! There! He's there, SAI!"_

Sakura jerked up, after falling asleep on some grass, sweat pouring off her face, as she remembered the day that Sasuke picked off her teammate from ANBU.

She grit her teeth, and slammed a fist into the ground, standing slowly, and on shaky legs.

"_**You ok, honey?"**_

Sakura stared at her feet, "Yeah, just tired," she mumbled, and walked slowly towards the division.

She slipped into her bedroom, and saw a book poking out from the cupboard, "A Wordsearch, huh?"

Several hours later…

Sakura set the book down, eyes flicking to the window, "Do you want to come in, or are you going to hang outside on the windowsill, Mr Grimmjaw?"

"Fuck," came muffled from the direction, and the man with teal coloured hair swung into the room, accidently sitting heavily on Sakura's legs, "Y-Yeah. That hurts. From the bruises that you gave me,"

"_**REVENGE! KICK HIM IN THE NUTS! JUST DON'T DAMAGE HIS ASS!"**_

"Psh, I can't be bothered for a rematch," when he got off, she rolled over, and patted the space next to her, "Now help me with my Wordsearch before I scream,"

The bed dipped as the Espada sat down, and leaned over, staring at the page of words, "Oi. Won't I be found out?"

"Nope. My energy eclipses yours by a thousand fold at the moment, everyone knows I'm an emotionally unstable prat that is to be avoided, and anyone who likes to stay in one piece will not enter my room without knocking first,"

She rolled her shoulder, and poofed her hair from her face, frowning at the puzzle, pen poised, when a finger pointed, "There,"

"Thanks," she crossed it off, "Why you here, Mr Grimmjaw?"

"First of, no Mr in front of my name, I ain't an old faggot, second of all, Aizen wants you as an Espada, fuck knows why,"

"I can't go straight away," was mumbled back, "If I did, then it would be worrying, and I need to think about it. I can't just go,"

A hand ruffled my hair, "Fucking kid,"

"Hey, I'm a week reborn, fifteen years old, have a horny sword and a hate to kill a person so bad it feels like I'm burning,"

"_**My fault honey. Grimmjaw has a helluva nice ass, by the way. It's just that he hurt you, so I wanna rip his throat out. Hey! Maybe he went to Hueco Mundo!"**_

Sakura pushed onto her elbows suddenly, head butting a hard chin, "Hey, hey, did a person called Sasuke Uchiha pass into the sandy place?"

There was a frown in place, before a nod, "Yes, don't know how, he's from a fucking different place, but he ain't hollow or shinigami, just a spirit,"

Sakura grabbed his hand, "Take me! Take me to see him!"

"Why?"

Sakura's aura turned to ice, the room almost shaking with killer intent, and the hurried slap of sandal on wood sounded outside the door, _"He killed everything I knew,"_

Toushiro opened the door in time to see a book land on the floor, and a pink head disappear into a garganta.

Sakura and Grimmjaw…

"Careful kid, hollow all over the place here,"

Sakura closed her eyes, arms in the air, turning in a slow circle, before she suddenly darted forward, and blinding speeds, dodging hollows as they came too close, sliding and slipping on the sand.

After a hurried minute or so, a large fireball lit the sky, and Sakura roared, _"UCHIHA!"_

She was standing legs apart, head thrown back, arms wide, "COME OUT AND FACE ME, BASTARD!"

She caught his hand as the sword swished down near to her, and she smiled grimly, "Found you, you murdering bastard. Guess Naruto took you down in the end, huh?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, and discarded the sword, darting with a chirping hand, "CHIDORI!"

Sakura swirled around, jumping with chakra and spinning in the air, drawing her Zanpaktou as she landed.

_She's moving too fast for her sword,_ Grimmjaw realised, seeing wisps of energy follow the girl like ghosts, _Fuck, she's quick._

Sasuke was hard pressed, but his lightning based attack was quicker, and with a sickening _splat_ his aim was true, and he buried his hand in her stomach.

Ok. If he wasn't impressed before, now he was, the girl didn't even flinch, and grabbed his arm in place as she just closed her eyes, dragged a breath through her nose, and buried a kunai between his eyes, "Bad luck Uchiha," she snarled, as the body fell from her abdomen, "That was for Ino, Sai, Kakashi, Tsunade-shishou, and every other person you killed in Konoha. BASTARD!"

The hollow were gathering, sensing a weak foe, but as she turned the energy that Gachirin provided warned them off.

Grimmjaw remembered her wound, "Oh, shit, what the fuck do we do about that?"

"Just take me back,"

"Fuck no,"

"_Take. Me. The. Fuck. Back!"_

"…"

"If you don't I'll ask one of these shitty hollows to do it for me,"

"Fine, bitchy,"

"Let's see how you like the gaping electric wound!?"

"We have people that can fucking help,"

"I can help myself," she held a quivering blood splattered hand over the wound, and it was quickly sealed, "I just…need some…sleep…" she swayed dangerously on her feet, and Grimmjaw flashed out hands to support her, "Fuck; do you need that freaky kiss of life again?"

"Might help," she slurred, but grinned drunkenly, wriggling her eyebrows, "You offering, handsome?"

To the Espada's horror, he flushed a pink colour, and didn't know what to say.

Sakura advanced, and muttered, "It might feel weird and hurt a bit,"

Grimmjaw gulped, as Sakura's breath ghosted along his collar, her plump pink lips getting closer, chest pressed against his when…she fainted. Just like that, she fell into him, not supporting herself, and just leant into him.

"Shit…?"

Later…

Sakura opened gritty eyes, staring at a white ceiling, "Huh?" she asked, "Did I fall asleep on my shift? Tsunade-shishou?"

She rubbed her eyes viciously, "Shizune-senpai?"

Swinging her legs out of bed, she yawned wide, closing her eyes and opened them slowly, before blinking, screaming, and throwing herself at the deadly fast person, "DIE!"

Straddling his waist, she poised two fingers, and whispered dangerously, "You have five seconds to tell me who you are, before I pluck your eyeballs straight out of your head,"

"Oi, pinky, don't kill Gin. He's important,"

Sakura mumbled rolling off, before realisation hit her, "I killed Sasuke, didn't I?"

"And fainted straight after,"

"YATTA!"

The man stood up, and Sakura followed, jumping for joy, before almost falling to the side, "I killed Sasuke, I killed Sasuke," she chanted like a mantra.

But then her stomach ruined the moment by growling loudly, and her hand shot for her pocket, before she remembered the empty pot.

"Psh," she grunted annoyed, throwing it into a bin in the corner of the room, and eyeing up the window, she asked, "How nice do 'hollows' taste?"

"We do have a kitchen," the man she had attacked said, still smiling and she looked him up and down, before squealing happily, "It's an albino Sai!"

She jumped him, too befuddled from loss of energy to realise what she was doing and shouted, "There's another Sai apart from the one Sasuke killed! Yay!"

She snuggled her face in his chest, "You even smell like him!"

Then she froze, seemingly knowing where she was, dropping gently, and retreating while bowing her head, "Gomen,"

The word half caught in her throat, "Can I go home now?"

Grimmjaw who was in the doorway waved a hand and said, as a rip tore into the room, "This will let you into the human world. You can f-"

"I don't want you to leave yet," a voice called from behind the Espada, who stiffened.

Sakura's eye twitched. She hadn't felt the man's presence, "Why can I not leave?"

"I want you to do a few fights for me, and then you can leave,"

"Who do you want me to fight?" Sakura cocked her head to the side, but her bright green eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

"Some failed Arrancars,"

The girl brightened, "M'kay. You want me to maim or kill?"

"Whichever you prefer, my dear, I'm Aizen,"

"I like you, you're nice," Sakura bowed her head, "I am Sakura Haruno, shinobi of Konoha, and if it gets me home any quicker, I'll hunt anything you want,"

Aizen opened his mouth.

"Except the something gami people,"

The mouth was closed, and he turned, waving a hand, "This way,"

"Hai!"

A few corridors later…

Sakura span in a slow circle in the large open top dome she was in, "This is like the Chuunin exam all over again," she observed, catching glances of the balconies, "But I'm the only one fighting,"

Aizen stood, and she locked onto him, as he raised an arm. She interrupted him, "Wait!" she shouted, and quickly wriggled out of her shinigami clothing, leaving behind her medic nin attire, kicking the robes away, "You may continue!"

She started stretching as Aizen explained what would happen to the gathered Espada, gesturing at Sakura, and when everyone turned in her direction, she grinned and twisted into a pretzel shape, snapping back out again.

Aizen smiled a very small gesture, and said, "Let the first one in,"

Nothing happened for a full minute.

Sakura tapped a sandaled foot against her ankle, looked down, and bent to untie them, smiling mischievously as a white and red blur shot over her head, missing her as she kicked the sandals off.

The creature slid across the sand covered flagstone floor, and turned on claws. Sakura whistled, "It looks kinda creepy," she admitted, before reaching a hand to a pocket, "But I've seen worse,"

Using only one hand she summoned two clones on either side of her, throwing something to each, and they ran around in circles, around the hollow.

Sakura, in the meantime, bit her thumb, and slammed it on the floor, summoning a small slug, that reached her waist. With a whispered command, the slug disappered, and reappeared by the hollow, poison seeping from its skin, immobilizing the creature, just as Aizen let the second one in.

Sakura glanced over her shoulder, not noticing her eyes had changed colour, the green darker, golden flecks in it making her look commanding.

She raised a hand from her side in a quick movement, and as she did so, a clump of earth broke from underneath the flagstones, throwing the creature into the air.

The first one, caught from the poison, didn't know what the clones were doing until they both tugged sharply, and it was sliced into pieces by wires.

Sakura enforced chakra in her legs, and shot high into the air with a powerful jump, reaching the hollow as it still flew upwards. It made a grab for her, but she grinned, made two fingers glow grin, and made life to the threat she had given to the albino Sai, plucking yellow and black eyeballs from its head.

Half of the Espada's shivered, as the eyeballs landed on the floor, their owner squishing them.

The third one that came in was very subtle about it, and Sakura didn't notice until the last minute, as its hand clamped around her neck,** "Shinigami…"** it hissed.

"So that's what they're called," Sakura coughed out, facing the creature, her hand twitching up until it copied the movement, "I never really knew until now,"

As the choking increased, so did the brightness of the yellow in her eye, and Gachirin giggled in her head, _**"Touch him with your index finger and say Bara. I dare you,"**_

Sakura did as was told, and whispered out, "Bara,"

There was a high pitched whine, a bright red flash, and the hollow was all the way across the arena, a bloody mess where its head was before.

Sakura massaged her throat, bruises disappearing with her timid touch, and she turned, "Can I leave now?"

"First, pick anyone here to fight, and if you win, you can go, if you lose, we keep you here,"

"I don't want to fight Grimmjaw, he's really awesome…Him!" she pointed to the person with half a helmet.

"Ulquiorra Schiffer,"

"Cool,"

The man jumped down, as Grimmjaw smacked his head.

Sakura felt his reiatsu flow over her like a wave, and instead of panicking; she was instantly calmed by it.

Hand outstretched in front of her, the man shook her hand accordingly, and she smiled, "Hand on hand combat, or swords, Mr Schiffer,"

"Ulquiorra, Zanpaktou,"

Sakura's still outstretched hand was covered in a pink mist and the sword appeared, and she asked, "May I use Bankai in this fight if I wish?"

"You may,"

"Thank you," Sakura whirled her arm about, getting feeling as Ulquiorra drew his own Zanpaktou. Aizen stood, and said quietly, but his voice heard by everyone, "Begin,"

Sakura jumped back as the blade swished in front of her face, and her lax face tightened slightly, as she swung her own up to parry. A metallic clash reverberated about the room.

"_**Dum de Dum, he's a looker, ain't he?"**_

Sakura giggled, as the sword swished by her ear, replying in her mind her slight agreement, not risking speaking out loud.

"_**When you gonna use Bankai? We can train your hollow,"**_ the last word was a weird ghostly moan, and Sakura held up a hand to signal stop, voicing it as well, before she fell to her knees in gut wrenching laughter, tears streaming down her face.

"_**So we can kick some butt and see the red hot Pineapple! Pun intended,"**_

Sakura was rolling, fight and sword forgotten as she held her stomach, "S-Stop it,"

"_**Or carrot top Ichi. Did you know he tasted like strawberry, or were you too busy fighting sexy Grimmjaw to notice?"**_

"Y-You're distracting me, stop it,"

"_**What about Aizen? He's ok, well, more than ok, he's like a fire, baby! I like mah brunettes,"**_

Sakura was choking on the tears of laughter, "Urusai!"

"_**And girl you were so lucky being on a team with Sai, if the hot man with the foxy grin is anything to go by,"**_

"Sakura-san is something wrong?" Ulquiorra asked, sheathing his sword, and Sakura attempted to nod.

"Nothing's wrong, everything is just p-peachy,"

"_**Just hurry up with this fight so we can see the beaus! Actually, surrender, there are hotties here,"**_

Sakura began coughing, red-faced from her chuckling, before she began coughing harder.

"_**Reiatsu under-dose, reiatsu under-dose! Warning, warning!"**_

It was getting painful to breathe, until Gachirin stated, _**"Breathe slow, I'm giving you some of mine, ok, calm, calm,"**_

A wracking pain made her body shudder, and Ulquiorra took a step forward; the Espada's dropping from the balconies to approach.

Then a black presence rubbed up against her mind, somehow soothing, somehow familiar. A wave washed over her, and she instantly felt better, standing up and yawning, "Is it time for breakfast?"

Dining Hall…

Sakura poked the foreign look food, giving a forlorn look and asking, "What is it?"

"Nice,"

She picked up a fork, having trouble holding it before picking up the knife, and jabbing the food again. Copying the others movements, she cut off a sliver, and placed it in her mouth.

Eyes widening, she almost purred at the taste, letting out a noise of happiness instead, as she abandoned the knife, and shoved all she could fit in her mouth.

She grabbed a glass of milk and swallowed it heavily in a gulp, before she hiccupped.

"_**OK, honey, we have to go now,"**_ nobody but Aizen could see the Zanpaktou behind Sakura, and the girl with pink hair shook her head,_** "You asked for it,"**_

Sakura looked up just as Gachirin screamed, _**"GLOMP ATTACK OF DOOM!"**_

And they both flew out of the door.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"_**You gotta look beaten up, get one of the hotties to stab you with your own kunai, I'll make the slices!"**_

"W-What?!"

"_**The shinigami might kill you if you turn up unharmed after the white haired captain saw you fall through a big rip,"**_

Sakura dragged a hand down her face, letting out a breath, before pulling out a kunai, and taking in a _deeper_ breath, stabbed the kunai as hard as she could in her stomach.

She could barely hear the chairs scrape back above her screaming.

Then came the insane urge to laugh, because of hurting herself, to help herself. She was curled over the ninja weapon that was buried deeper than it was supposed to be in her stomach.

Gachirin gave a glance to the doorway, then quickly sliced down Sakura's back, whacked her over the head to her complaints, opened a garganta and pushed the girl through.

She stumbled out in midair.

"_**Sorry. Bad reception, didn't know where we were coming through."**_

"I know you planned it,"

Sakura was hurtling towards the ground, higher than the highest point in Seireitei, and she was going about it headfirst.

Hand moving against a force, Sakura grasped the handle of the small weapon in her midriff, and yanked it out with a spray of blood, still hurtling as she dropped it and giggled, blood dripping into vision, "I hope that didn't hit anyone,"

"_**I don't think it did…"**_

A loud scream of swearing shot into the sky.

"_**Yes, I believe it hit someone. And now they know we're falling out of the sky like a meteorite,"**_

Sakura twisted, so she could see how close she was to the ground and her stomach flipped. She wasn't the best with heights. Especially when it was this high, and the buildings looked so far away.

Then suddenly a black and white blur shot up to her height and holding her aloft, making her blink and a voice said, "I believe you hit my fukutaichou,"

Sakura spat blood out to the side, "Sorry, didn't have time to aim, being thrown from the sky and having a kunai in my gut," she grinned, "If he's still breathing, I can fix him,"

"Unfortunately only the blunt side hit him,"

Sakura smiled, "You make it sound like a bad thing, Kuchiki-san,"

There was another scream of rage from below and Sakura blinked down, "I think I spat blood on him,"

Byakuya began dragging her down in the air, and she limped along, hand up to wipe away the blood that had gathered at her temple from Gachirin's impromptu hit.

When they finally reached the floor, Sakura's legs gave way, and she sat heavily, "I feel like I've been hit by a tree,"

"You have been gone for sixteen hours,"

Sakura shook her head, "Felt longer,"

She bit her thumb, "But I'm still real tired. Can I leave now?"

"But your wounds?"

Sakura reached a glowing palm to her head, the gash disappearing, and did the same with her stomach, but couldn't reach her back, "Damnit!"

"Kurosaki is looking for you,"

Sakura gave him a weird look, "How is _that_ gonna help me heal my back?"

"I just thought you may have wanted to know,"

Sakura held up a hand and said, "You are a very weird person," she stated, then fell over forward.

And so, with a captain who is as blank as wood now officially dubbed weird, a lieutenant raging about being hit by flying weapons and falling blood, as well as an unconscious pink haired ninja turned Shinigami, we can only wonder what might happen next, in this now dysfunctional world.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

After being healed, in a couple of days Sakura's upbeat and happy personality slipped back into her calm façade that she had possessed before dying. She was given third seat in the tenth division, politely declining Matsumoto's offer of fukutaichou, as she didn't want to take anyone's job.

Toushiro had suggested that she place her desk in his office, so anything she got confused with, he was there for reference, and Sakura had expressed her thanks by demonstrating her medic skills in helping him relax as he had been stressed by Aizen lately.

The stoic captain had to admit that those hands worked wonders.

Three days after her return, Ichigo had stepped nervously into the division, and handed her a small black square with white wires attached that he called an 'iPod Nano' with instructions on how to use it.

He had left almost immediately after, a small device attached to his robes beeping.

On the subject of Shinigami clothing, Sakura had asked, and been given permission to wear clothes that she found suitable, and in no way hindered her.

Now, it was near the end of the fifth day since she had come back to Seireitei, and she was writing up documents, listening to some of the soft music that Ichigo had put on the iPod, before his voice came through.

She wavered momentarily before continuing, focusing on what the substitute Shinigami was saying as well as trying to concentrate on her work.

"_Ok, Sakura, heh, I tried my best with this and um…I hope it makes you feel better, and there definitely is a part two to this gift… You won't believe how much trouble I went through buying this; dad thought I had a girlfriend. Anyway I have to stay home for awhile, family matters, and friends getting suspicious. Hope you like the gift."_

There was silence, until a loud voice that was familiar called through, _"Hey, what is this weird thing?"_ a quieter voice identified as Ichigo told him, _"Oh, oh, I talk through and Sakura-chan can listen! Ok! Here goes, dattebayo! Sakura. Hi, it's me, Naruto! I'm in this place called Rukongai, I don't actually know where, but still…" _the voice petered off, and Sakura dropped her pen, _"This weirdo teammate of yours said I could come see you someday! Isn't that great! And I killed teme, and Sakura,"_ the girl could hear the affection in his voice, _"Everyone came here. Ino, Hinata, the Rookie Nine, Team Gai, Kakashi, Tsunade even Jiraiya, though I don't know how he died,"_ Sakura felt hot tears gathering in her eyes, _"I can't speak long, Ino-pig wants a go, so…see you soon Sakura-chan,"_

The pen had rolled, and knocked over Sakura's tea, spilling green over the desk, as the girl frantically wound up the volume, craving to hear her best friends voices as they came over the buds.

Toushiro had turned his eyes to her wondrous face that was staring at the device, and he frowned. It had been a distraction since the beginning. Sakura using it would disrupt her work…

Suddenly she whispered, "Tsunade-shishou…"

And because of the pain intermingled with love in her voice, the captain decided to let it go. Just this once.

The last voice in the recordings had Sakura almost sobbing at its promise, _"I, Gaara no Sabaku, Kazekage of Suna, promise that Konoha will never be forgotten, and that all costs Sound will be stopped. Sakura Haruno. I have heard how you died but came back, and let me tell you this, not as a person, but as a country, a nation, a people bound by war and love. We will stand by you, we will stand by Konoha, and most of all we will stand by your memory. Suna will, for the rest of its existence, will not grieve! Instead, it will rejoice in the memory, of a Shinobi Nation, that was like no other!"_

And with that, it returned to the first song in her iPod. Like it hadn't existed, like that voice hadn't just promised her that Konoha would be remembered, like it hadn't said her name, and hadn't said that they would stand for all that Konoha was.

Sakura blinked a few times, the song, 'Sakura Drops' flowing through her ears, until she turned the iPod off, stood up abruptly, and asked, all business, "Hitsugaya-taichou, may I have permission to locate Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Toushiro lazily looked up again, and stated monotonously, "You have fifteen minutes, then I expect you back here,"

Sakura bowed her head in thanks, and strode towards the door. Hovering for a second, she looked over her shoulder, and let out a smile, the first one in days, "You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you, Hitsugaya-taichou,"

Then she promptly disappeared.

After tracing Ichigo's reiatsu, she found him, five minutes later, arguing with Renji Abarai, outside of the fukutaichou's division.

Renji noticed first, tapped Ichigo on the shoulder and said, "Ichigo, that little pink haired girl that isn't Yachiru is back,"

Sakura twitched at both girl and little before saying, "Kurosaki-san, I have come here to say thank you for what you put on my iPod. It was really touching, and the thought of seeing Naruto again makes me really happy," she bowed her head and turned, "I will talk more later, Kurosaki-san, I have to get back to my division. I don't think Hitsugaya-taichou will be happy if I overstep my limit, or leave my work station in the state it is,"

She bowed deep at the waist to Renji, seeing as he was a higher rank than her, and hand on hilt as was the standard with most Shinigami with running, she set off.

She returned to the tenth division with seven minutes to spare, so she set about moving toward her desk, when Toushiro asked, "Did you manage to do what you needed?"

"Hai, Hitsugaya-taichou. If I may, can I request a day off in the near future?"

"Yes, you can. Why?"

"Kurosaki-san has arranged something for me, and I have a gut feeling it is something that I may not want to miss,"

"Does it have something to do with that device?"

"It does,"

"May I ask what?"

"You are my captain, and I will answer as you want. A few days ago I was allowed to visit Konoha to find that everyone had died. It seems Kurosaki-san hunted them down in Rukongai and has established a meeting for us,"

"What does it have to do with this…_iPod?"_

"He recorded all my dead friends. And made Gaara make a promise,"

"Gaara?"

"He was leader of a nation, like Tsunade-shishou. I am afraid I cannot give you anymore information without having to face the consequences later,"

Toushiro narrowed his eyes, "And why is that?"

"I would rather take my own life than betray my village, even though I am no longer part of it," Sakura stated bluntly, and Toushiro suddenly found out he liked the happy Sakura better than the one that was all for business, "But don't worry," she continued, "Now that Soul Society is my new village, however temporary, I will not betray its secrets either,"

She gave him another smile that she noticed, were becoming more frequent, before she turned to her desk and said, "I guess I should clean up this mess…" a few seconds of contemplating and…"OH MY GOD THOSE DOCUMENTS WERE REALLY IMPORTANT! TSUNADE-SHISHOU IS GONNA KILL ME!"

The icy captain smirked. If a dirty desk got a reaction out of her, then a dirty desk it is.

She swiped everything off into her arms, looked around the room, then ran into the next one, coming back with a cloth, and promptly hyperventilating at the pot of ink that had fallen over in her hurry.

Not thinking that she had used a pen, not a quill, she ran to the table, and picked up the pot carefully, before scrubbing at the desk with such ferocity, it snapped in two like a twig.

Her eyes widened, flicked to Toushiro who had to hide his smirk, and then she took in deep breaths, "Calm, Sakura, remember your goal, remember to stay calm. Breathe in. Breathe out,"

Toushiro raised an eyebrow. Now she was _meditating?_ What next?

When Sakura had regained her calm, she stood, and said, "I apologize for the desk, Hitsugaya-taichou. Where would you like me to place the…_remains?"_

He had to hide the smirk at the way she said remains and the disgusted way she stared at said mangled furniture.

"I'll get someone on it later,"

"Hai, taichou,"

Instead she sat on her seat as Toushiro continued his writing from behind his own. After five minutes, she glanced up to make sure he wasn't watching, and then spun sharply on the chair.

It made a loud creak and she stopped herself quickly, looking up sharply, then down again when she saw his eyes on her. Unbeknownst to her, her face had gone red, from embarrassment or something else she would never know.

He turned back to his paperwork, and Sakura tilted to look out the window. A pink head mirrored her. She blinked, moved away, and yet again it copied her. She stood up, and the pink head grew taller.

She slowly pulled an arm up to point, going on tiptoes, when suddenly, with a jingle, a captain stood sharply higher, a pink and black bundle on his shoulders which was giggling.

Toushiro turned at the jingle, and he was curious when he both felt the reiatsu, and saw Sakura slowly rise and jab a finger.

She tilted her head and stated softly, "I am sorry that I threw you the other day,"

The tenth division captain was confused. She _threw_ someone?

When the rumble sounded, he dropped his quill, "I shouldn't have provoked you. Fiery little thing aren't you,"

Sakura let the smallest smile cross her features, and inclined her head in the positive.

Kenpachi rolled his eyes over Toushiro, "You ok here? Small, short and icy not getting you down. You seem a lot less feisty than you were a few days ago,"

Sakura tapped her lip, "After killing a hollow, being kidnapped, murdering my murderer and finally coming back here, I'm back in my zone. I apologise for my bi-"

"I WANT TO SEE SAKURA-CHAN NOW! I DON'T WANT HER LAST MEMORY OF ME, BEING A DEMON CONTROLLED NINJA!"

"Naruto, be quiet. You're gaining attention,"

At the voices, Sakura's happiness was so tangible, that it was literally rolling off her in waves, "Naruto! Kakashi-sensei!" she called, shuffling for the door, before relaxing her face, and looking over to Toushiro for permission. He waved a hand, and picked up his quill.

Sakura looked at the door, and the shadows near the bottom of it, before hugging Toushiro quickly and fondly, and returning the doorway, glomping someone as they came into view.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

She was shook violently backward and forward as Naruto swung around with her excitedly, "It feels like it has taken _forever_ before I saw you!"

"Hey, Dickless, stop hogging Ugly,"

"S-AI" someone Sakura had managed to turn one syllable into two, very dangerous syllables, "Do you _want_ to die again! I'll hit you!"

She was whisked from Naruto's grip, "I missed you, Ugly," was murmured softly in her ear, "I really did,"

Yet again she was yanked from someone else, and this time into Kakashi, "I knew you were too stubborn to die, Sakura," he mumbled through his mask into her hair, "I just _knew_ it,"

Sakura stroked his masked cheek softly, and smiled up at him, "No matter how many times you try to get rid of me, I just bounce right back."

"Sakura!" suddenly the voices were all over, and Sakura turned, to see Ichigo rubbing his head sheepishly, and a large group of people that she hadn't seen in a long time.

Kakashi grinned under his mask and Sakura could feel it, "Don't you dare…" he dared. He threw her into the crowd, "KAKASHI!" she screamed, before landing on someone and promptly squishing them, "Look what you made me do," she scolded, seeing poor flat Kiba, "Wow, have I gained weight?" she wondered aloud, snapping the Inuzuka back out into a three dee shape, "Sorry Kiba,"

"S'okay," he said, "Everyone's just glad you're ok,"

Suddenly, a voice screeched, "YOU'RE THE FILTHY BITCH THAT KILLED SASUKE-KUN!"

"Hey, calm down Karin!"

A red blur descended on Sakura, and a hand was wrapped around her throat, "How dare you!" a fisted kunai was raised.

It all happened too fast for any of the ninjas to see.

Karin was on the floor, Sakura was held back, and three swords were pushed into the downed ninja's back.

Toushiro's at her neck, Ichigo's placed near her face, foot on her back, and Kenpachi standing on her hand, sneering at her as he used his blade to tip her glasses off.

Yachiru was holding Sakura's hand tightly as she had dragged her back to the wall, bright eyes glaring at the ninja's.

Toushiro spoke coldly, "It would be in your best interest to leave my third seat alone,"

Karin snarled, but lowered her head.

Sakura was impassive, and a voice snorted, "I always knew Karin was crazy,"

Ichigo tossed his head, and turned softer eyes to Sakura, "Are you ok?"

Sakura nodded, "She caught me by surprise," she said in a soft voice, before pulling away from Yachiru's grip of death. She laid a hand on Toushiro's shoulder, and murmured something to him, before he nodded, turning his icy eyes to Kenpachi.

The man grinned, hauling the girl into the air, and Sakura turned to face the ninjas again, a familiar face making her features light up, "Tsunade-shishou!"

She pushed through the crowd of Konoha Nin, before engulfing the lady in a back breaking hug, "It _is_ you!"

"Sakura! Geez, I swear to god, if I were to ever see that Uchiha again, I'll turn him female!"

"Ah, but Karin is right. I killed Sasuke's soul,"

A moment of silence as the voice hooted, "That is some tough shit! Sasuke beaten by a girl!"

Suddenly Naruto sidled up, "He didn't hurt you, did he?" he trembled, eyes flashing crimson, "If he hurt you…"

Sakura smiled at him, "Nope. I just buried a kunai between his eyes,"

"Ichigo!" a loud voice shouted, and Sakura turned to see Renji and his captain in tow, "We felt a huge amount…of…reiatsu," he petered off seeing all the ninjas.

Then Karin started screaming, "Put me down, you big idiot! Put me _down!"_

Sakura turned around, raised an eyebrow, and said, "You are loud,"

Naruto snorted then burst into laughter, Sai gave a fake smile, and Kakashi grinned widely. Tsunade slapped Sakura on the back, causing the girl to reinforce her legs and crack the ground, before saying, "You still have it in you, Sakura-chan,"

"Duh, I wouldn't lose my sense of humour even if I did die,"

"Who did kill you? Naruto never told me,"

"Sasuke did," Sakura looked at the floor, hands clenched into fists, "But he is dead now." She looked up, "Can we continue this conversation later in the week? I don't think Hitsugaya-taichou appreciates you being at his division's door, or having something loud like Karin-san here,"

She bowed, "I shall see you later, Tsunade-shishou,"

"Yeah," the Hokage looked slightly hurt, but waved, and herded the ninjas away, "We'll see you another time, in a more suitable environment,"

When they had dispersed, the silence was thick, until Renji coughed, "Your…_shishou_ is looking well,"

"She's fifty," Sakura deadpanned, "She just uses a jutsu to make her look younger,"

"Hoho, still wearing shorts under that skirt, Sakura-chan? Such a shame,"

Everyone's gaze went to the floor, where there was a man with a spyglass; heaven knows why when he's so close, underneath and between Sakura's legs.

"…_**Can I castrate him?"**_

Sakura just stared, eyelid twitching, as Jiraiya grinned up and asked seriously, "Would you consider posing for one of my Icha Icha books?"

And in return she asked sweetly, "Would you like to die?"

"Why?"

"You are staring up my skirt, and asking me, a fifteen year old, to pose in an R-Rated book. Either you're crazy, or you really do want to die,"

"R-Rated?" Toushiro asked, and Ichigo whispered in his ear what it meant. His grip on Hyourinmaru tightened.

Renji had to explain to Byakuya, and suddenly the captain said, "Scatter, Senbonzakura,"

Jiraiya took one look at the captain, and crept out from underneath Sakura, "What did I do wrong?"

Sakura, uncharacteristically cackled, "You might want to run, Jiraiya," she pulled out her sword, "Because he's not the only one to worry about, and I'm a whole lot closer,"

The sword violently pulled at her, aimed towards Jiraiya, "Adding to the fact I've had my bloodlust pent up for almost a week, well, you remember last time, don't you?"

Jiraiya barked in laughter, pulling off his shirt, showing three impressive scars, "How could I not? Three near deaths, one from Tsunade, one from Naruto, and the closest was you,"

"Then this time, we'll give you time to run,"

"We?"

Sakura's Zanpaktou shimmered into existence beside her, _**"Yes. We,"**_

Jiraiya's eyes widened, turning into hearts, "Score!" he shouted, running forward, when his face met Sakura's sandaled foot, "Don't make me make you female, idiot. How did you die anyway?"

"Akatsuki,"

It was if a flip had been switched. Sakura deflated, replaced her sword, and meandered shakily back into the office, sitting heavily on the chair, burying her head in her hands.

"You just had to make me worry. Konoha might not be standing, but Suna is. I want to know if Gaara is going to make it,"

"He's tough. He won't let Suna down without a fight,"

"But he was beaten by just Deidara to start off with! With the whole Akatsuki active," Sakura's shoulders trembled, until she stood and faced Toushiro, "Hitsugaya-taichou, do I have permission to warn Gaara of what might happen?"

"Sorry, but you cannot leave while we are in the midst of a potential war,"

Sakura closed her eyes in anguish.

Gachirin broke in, _**"Sorry? SORRY?! Is that the best you can come up with? Sakura has **_**just**_** left her world, do you think she's all that ready to abandon it? She has salvation at her fingertips, and you are doing **_**nothing**_** but dragging her back from it!"**_

"Gachirin…" Sakura warned, wincing, fingers curled at her throat, "Its ok,"

"_**It's not! I can feel your pain Sakura, don't deny it,"**_ the spirit clutched her own head, _**"How can you live like you're being torn in two?! Knowing you have to listen, but condemning people you consider family to death?!"**_

Sakura clenched her hands to fists under her chin, "I know! But what Hitsugaya-taichou commands, I must obey. Now, please, calm down," she opened pleading eyes to the spirit, and Ichigo silently drew his Zanpaktou at the black creeping from the outside of her left eye, "It hurts to lose family, you more than anyone, being me should know that,"

"Sakura? Are you ok?" Ichigo slowly asked, blade hung loosely at his side, before Gachirin slid in front of him, _**"Stay away,"**_ she told him, fists enough warning as they shook near her legs, _**"Just stay away,"**_

Sakura grabbed Gachirin, "Just go, Gachirin. I'll be fine," she forced a smile, uncaring of the small hole in her neck now showing to everyone present, "Anyway, we might scare Shinigami if you continue to pulse hollow reiatsu throughout my body,"

Gachirin turned to glare at Toushiro, _**"Let me promise you this. If Gaara's death does occur, then I will murder you in your sleep. There's a saying in Sakura's old village. 'People who break the rules are considered scum, but people who leave their friends are considered worse than scum,' Thanks a lot, midget,"**_

The Zanpaktou –slash- hollow dispersed in a swirl of pink and black, and Sakura sat back down, face buried in her palms, "She's only overreacting, because of an order Tsunade-shishou made me obey a while back," her shoulders shook, "Three days later, I went to the joint funeral for both my mum and dad,"

She forced a smile upwards, "But I forgave you, and that is why you shouldn't worry about Gachirin, Hitsugaya-taichou. She won't re-"

She stopped short as she was engulfed in a hug, not from the captain, but from Ichigo, "I know what it's like to lose someone," he murmured into her hair, "I saw my own mother die, I feel what you're going through,"

He wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, and told her seriously, "I have already met this Gaara; the recording is proof enough of this. I'll warn him for you,"

He rested his forehead against hers, staring in her eyes with seriousness, before his features softened slightly, and he kissed her nose.

Sakura went pink for a second, before she fumbled around her head, "Wait," she murmured, fingers getting caught before she finally pulled it out. She held it out to Ichigo, her headband, "Show him this. Gaara is stubborn. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me he tried to kill you the first step you took into the village," she gave a little dry laugh, "At least now you have proof,"

"…He did try to bury me…alive…"

"As alive as you could be," Sakura saw the fault in what he said, and grinned widely as he blushed, "Y-Yeah,"

"If he doesn't believe you, tell him about a promise Naruto made him a long time ago. He'll understand, if he asks for more details, say, 'Sakura Haruno didn't want to give too many details about these matters, and that she hopes Kankuro is recovering well from the attack,'"

"From what attack?"

"Damn puppet bastard, asshole Sasori. Poisoned Gaara's brother, and forced me to make up an antidote for it in like under two days," Sakura grumbled before clapping her hands together, and standing, bowing her head, "I have training to do. Hitsugaya-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou, Abarai-fukutaichou, K-"

"Renji. Call me Renji," the Lieutenant looked embarrassed at the demand.

Sakura blinked, before a small smile lit her face, "Renji, Kurosaki-san,"

She straightened, and then left the room in a rush of wind, the door rattling slightly.

Renji let out a breath, "She's something else," he said dreamily, staring at the doorway, eyes unfocused, until he was hit upside the head, "We need to get back, Abarai,"

"H-Hai, Kuchiki-taichou,"

Ichigo clenched the piece of metal and cloth in his hands, staring at it, before he too left, leaving Toushiro on his own, thinking, where is Matsumoto, with the words, bastard, idiot, Renji, Ichigo, hate and murder all thrown in, somewhere or another.

With meetings finally made, and death done not in vain, our pink haired Shinigami gets to see her friends for what will not be the last time, but many to come.

Although, festering away is something dangerous in the shadows, something that is turning its gaze towards Seireitei, and its important pink haired denizen.

But that's a story for another time. Because, all we can do now, is wait. Wait, hope and pray.


	5. Chapter 5

Ah, ah, I apologise _way_ in advance for taking such a long time to update! My mum and dad have been going through divorce proceedings, so I had the task of choosing who I wanted to live with, my sister said she was having _another_ baby and my mum threw a fit, considering my sister is only eighteen, and then I had so many exams it was unbelievable. Because of this, I'll try update everything I can, ok?

I don't own Naruto in any shape or form… apart from this and several other fanfictions. If it counts.

Chapter Five

"And then, and then," Sakura began, trying to speak around a mouthful of noodles, "Sasuke attempted to slice me in half," using her thumb, she traced across her right side, "And afterwards he literally impaled me with his sword right to the hilt. All I remember after that is waking up surrounded by other Shinigami,"

She slurped up another mouthful of noodles, and Tsunade, sat across from her chuckled, despite what had been said, "Slow down Sakura, or you'll set yourself choking,"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Sakura waved her hand dismissively, picking up a small cup and taking a quick swig of sake, "Besides, it's a time to celebrate, is it not?"

"Death isn't necessarily something to celebrate," Tsunade said quietly, and the atmosphere at the table dropped to something close to dismal. Sakura fell silent, setting her cup solidly down on the table, a loud _thunk_ and _crack_ permeating the air.

"We're doing all we can, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura's voice was near silent, as she ignored the liquid pouring onto the table from her broken cup, "We just have to face up to the fact that we've left behind our world, and entered a new one."

Sakura finished her bowl, set it on the table as harshly as the sake cup, and standing, she threw some money down onto the tabletop, "If you'd excuse me Tsunade-shishou, I have some work to do now, before I meet up with Naruto, Sai, Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-sensei,"

As she turned to leave, Tsunade grabbed her wrist, "Sakura, not yet,"

"Sorry, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura smiled at her softly, "I'm not leaving you because I'm annoyed with you or anything -"

"_**Well, that's a lie,"**_

"- But I truly have work that must be dealt with. Similar to ours, this world has its own problems to deal with,"

Tsunade nodded, and let go, picking up the sake bottle, "I… I guess I shall see you some other time then, Sakura?"

"Hai, hai," Sakura flapped a hand dismissively, "I'll come visit whenever I can, ok?"

"You'd better!" Tsunade warned, "Or I'll bust down your doors and drag you out,"

"I'm sure you will," Sakura laughed freely, stomach almost hurting with the fierceness of her fit of giggles, "I'll warn the captains not to get in your way. See you later Tsunade,"

Tsunade waved her off with the bottle, "See you, Sakura,"

Tenth Division Building…

Just as Sakura was about to walk into her office, Ichigo walked out. She sidestepped him neatly, and gave him a curious look, "Kurosaki-san," she greeted, "Why are you here?"

"Oh, Sakura!" Ichigo grinned widely, "I came to drop your headband off, and I've seen your Gaara friend. This time around he _didn't_ attempt to bury me, but instead accepted my explanation about what had happened, and this Akatsuki group. He's preparing his village as we speak,"

"Ah, thank goodness," a look of relief spread over Sakura's face, "If it weren't improper conduct, I could just about _hug_ you around about now," she mussed up her hair with both hands, "I can't wait to be wearing my hitai-ate again," she let out a happy sigh, edged past Ichigo, and entered the building.

"Sheesh," Ichigo complained, attacking his own hair madly with his hands, "I'm _sure_ it wouldn't be improper conduct to hug someone in thanks," he paused, contemplating his own words, with something akin to curious wonderment.

After rather rudely telling midair the 'Shut the hell up!' in accordance to the distorted laughing echoing in his head, he left briskly.

Sakura, as soon as she reached her desk, she crashed into it, knocking the wind from her lungs, and startling Toushiro in such a way, he stood, Hyorinmaru halfway drawn from its sheathe.

With quiet gasps, Sakura slid over it, landed on her chair, and carefully, as if it were made of glass, picked up the cloth and metal headband. She brushed her thumb reverently over the leaf marking, before tying it securely around her head.

Toushiro watched her a little warily, before sliding his Zanpaktou away with a quiet _click!_ noise and settling back into his chair.

Every few minutes, Sakura would giggle, reaching up to tap a knuckle against her headband, glad at its familiar weight resting atop her head. She had felt strangely bare without it, and felt a little excited at its safe return.

At every giggle, Toushiro would shoot her an annoyed look, eyes narrowed and flicking back and forth between her face and headband. To an unknown feeling, he realised he spent more time watching her expressions, rather than the object of his demise.

After about half an hour, Sakura had calmed down enough to get some decent work done, when yet another interruption came crashing through the doorway.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled excitedly, "Come on, come on, you have to hang out with us now!"

"He's right you know," Kakashi waved a little from behind him, "You did promise,"

"Come on ugly, it's our turn to catch up,"

"And I hope your not forgetting me," Yamato chuckled, "I'd be hurt if you did,"

Sakura smiled brightly, "Hitsugaya-taichou, may I? If I need to, I shall stay behind afterwards to finish off my work,"

Toushiro waved her off, saying rather coldly, "You are all disrupting my work. Just go,"

Both Naruto and Sakura flinched at the tone of his voice, and Naruto edged out of the room, a slightly put off look on his face. Sakura, still wincing a little, bowed deeply at the waist, and rambled off apologies one after the other until she couldn't breathe anymore, and backed out of the office quickly, making sure not to make eye contact.

What she didn't see when she was gone with her team, was Toushiro swearing and slamming the desk with his fist, cursing his a little too harsh action.

A short ways down the walkway, Naruto threw his arm around Sakura's shoulder, "Geez, he didn't have to be so mean, right? I mean, we're your friends too, he can't keep you away from us,"

"It was a little unexpected," Sai murmured, walking along her, the opposite side to Naruto. As Sakura turned to look at him, a half smile edging onto her face, she glanced around, a little puzzled, "Where is Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-sensei?"

"Ah," Sai began, "They said something about meeting the Hokage,"

"Well, that's a good thing!" Naruto grinned widely, and yanked Sakura a little closer to his side, "Now we have Sakura all to ourselves! I know! We should have a fight; make sure none of us have gone slack!"

"That's actually a good idea, dickless," Sai agreed mutely, glancing towards Sakura who patted herself down, frowning in thought. She ducked out from underneath Naruto's arm, and danced back a few steps, "I left my ninja gear in the office," she apologised, bowing her head and jogging on the spot, "Just wait for me here, I'll be back in a few moments,"

Naruto and Sai nodded, the former linking his hands behind his head and leaning against the wall, watching her leave.

When she re-entered the office, she didn't look in Toushiro's direction, worried she had annoyed or offended him before, and instead leant over her desk instead of rounding it, to grab the bag of her old ninja days gear that was nestled next to her chair.

After turning, she dropped the bag in shock, back pressed against the desk because of how close Toushiro was to her all of the sudden.

Toushiro leant a hand on the desk one side of her, aqua green eyes, hard, and as cold as ice regarding her almost lazily, as he leant into her personal space. Close enough, in fact, so she could smell his breath, a sort of fresh, minty scent.

Sakura was frozen in place at his close proximity, still stock still as he moved a little more forward, enough so his hair brushed and mingled with her pink strands, his forehead almost but not quite touching hers.

Despite how hard she tried, she couldn't tear her gaze away from his, and she had physically stopped breathing, eyes wide open.

She jumped, as his other hand landed on the desk the other side of her, just brushing her waist as it settled his weight on the desk, giving him enough leverage to knock their heads together lightly.

They stayed like this, for what it felt like to Sakura, an age, before Toushiro snorted, lifted his left hand to tuck some of her vibrantly coloured hair behind her ear, and said nonchalantly as he turned, "Apologies for being harsh on you,"

With that said, he returned to his desk as it if hadn't just happened, while Sakura's mind ran in circles, trying to figure out what exactly he had done, the event not really sinking in. After a few moments, her face literally exploded into a blush, and gathering her ninja equipment, she dashed for the door, head butting the doorframe by accident before shooting down the wooden walkway, crashing past Naruto and Sai with a garbled, "Follow me!"

Toushiro, when he was sure she had gone, and nobody would enter anytime soon, lifted the hand he had brushed Sakura's hair with, he watched it and tilted it to the side, before shaking his head firmly, and picking up his quill, he returned to his work.

A clearing, a little ways away from Seireitei…

"Do you get the feeling something has distracted Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked Sai, arms folded as he watched his pink haired ex-teammate slam her fist into a tree, not really judging the power as the sturdy trunk shattered, and the giant groaned before falling with a loud thud.

"Considering that's the fourth tree ugly has knocked down, I'm going to have to say yes,"

Naruto frowned, before carefully approaching Sakura, and tapping her on the shoulder, as she raised her hand to smack another tree down. She jumped, and whirled around, a pink stain flooding her cheeks.

At the look on her face, Naruto gaped openly, before jerking his hands back, and slamming them on his face, stumbling several feet back until he was back in line with Sai.

The artist glanced towards him puzzled, before his calm façade of a mask almost slipped, seeing Naruto's face as red as a tomato. As the blonde tried to speak, Sai noted he couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence.

"S-S-Sakura-chan, s-she, and her… _face_ it w-was, like her _hair. _Her _face…"_

Sai tilted his head, before shrugging, and calmly pulling out his scroll and paintbrush, he, almost as if he were bored, quickly scribbled some unidentified animal down, setting it on Sakura while she weren't looking.

Despite her supposed distracted state Naruto had mentioned before, she reacted quickly, quicker than either of her ex-teammates had seen her move before, and ink splattered onto the ground and her sword as she whipped around violently, hair splaying around her face, eyes as hard as flint until she realised what had happened.

"Ah," she began; "Did you want to spar, Sai?" as she asked this, she carefully shook ink free from her Zanpaktou, mumbling quietly under her breath to it.

"Sure, hag, if you can keep up," Sai smiled widely, though as normal it looked worn thin and fake, "If you can't well, too bad then,"

He barely had time to duck as a kunai shot over his head, and while he straightened, Sakura launched forward, fist poised to hit him. He dodged fluidly to the side, and her clenched hand connected with the ground, sending chunks of earth flying in every direction, a crater left in her wake.

She cracked her knuckles several times, and grinned widely, "Here I come, Sai," with one hand glowing green and blue, she used the other to pull out another kunai, running forward and preparing herself to attack him again.

Naruto, who was on the outskirts as the fight unfolded, almost flinched as an unknown person dropped next to him. Well, only unknown to him.

Sakura, who was forced back by a relentless move from Sai, caught sight of the person next to Naruto, and shouted out in greeting, "Renji-fukutaichou!"

Renji chuckled, and waved a hand, wincing as Sakura was crashed into by an ink animal of Sai's whose eyes widened in something akin to faint shock, not exactly thinking his attack would collide.

After skidding along the ground, Sakura managed to kick the ink away, grimacing as it splattered up her leg, and refocusing her attention upon Sai, she shot forward, slid to a stop just in front of him, ducked behind while he tried to gather his bearings, and kicked him behind the knees, efficiently toppling him.

Crouching behind him, Sakura pressed a kunai to his neck, and whispered almost sweetly, "Checkmate, Sai,"

She straightened, and patted his head, before replacing her kunai, and retrieving the one she had thrown and missed Sai with. When that was done, she walked towards Renji and Naruto, ""Renji-fukutaichou," she greeted again, "Is there any particular reason why you're here?"

Renji scratched the back of his head, and then mutely pointed to the crater Sakura had caused, "I think I wasn't the only person in Seireitei to hear or feel that, but I'm definitely the only one who came to see what it was about,"

"Ah," Sakura rubbed her neck self-consciously, "Sai and I were just training, and I guess I used too much strength with that hit, huh…?"

"And also," Renji continued, moving his finger to point at the several toppled trees, "It wasn't exactly hard to miss those trees falling, considering how tall they were. Was that a part of training too?"

As Sakura remembered why she had been almost mindlessly attacking the trees, her face flushed bright pink again, and she opened and closed her mouth not sure how to reply, before she grabbed Naruto and Sai's wrists respectively, and tugged them away, deciding to ignore the question.

Renji tilted his head, but then shook it, and decided to follow them instead.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined eventually, "We didn't get our chance to spar! Can we do it now?"

"Later, Naruto,"

"_Now,"_

Sakura paused, glancing over at Naruto, who had a serious gaze fixed in her direction, eyes hard with the barest flicker of red in their depths, "Because I don't know when I'll see Sakura-chan next,"

Sakura was sure she wasn't the only one that felt the ominous feeling leaking from Naruto at that moment, and that thought was proved when Yamato appeared on Naruto's other side, hand leaning heavily on his shoulder.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?"

"Sakura-chan doesn't want to practice with me," the blonde whined, almost bitterly, reluctantly turning to regard Yamato instead. Sakura slowly uncurled her fingers from Naruto's wrist, moving away a few steps.

Renji, who had also felt what Sakura had, had his hand resting on the hilt of his Zanpaktou, when a thought suddenly struck him, "Ah! Kuchiki-taichou wanted to see you Sakura-san,"

"Kuchiki-taichou?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yes. I believe he's going to introduce you to his sister, and Yamamoto-sotaichou has granted you permission to visit the human world, as long as you are accompanied by Kuchiki-taichou and a shinigami of your choice,"

Sakura's face lit up instantly, before she turned to Naruto, and bowed deeply, "I am really sorry, but I have to go _now!_"

As she turned away, a hand latched to her wrist, and jerked her back around, "Who is there to see? You should _stay_ because everybody you know is _here_," Naruto stressed, fingers tight against her skin.

"There's still Gaara to see, and it wouldn't hurt to check out the Akatsuki," Sakura rationalised, slowly lifting her hand to pick at Naruto's fingers, his hold actually starting to cause a discomfort near to pain.

As she tried to tug away at the same time as picking at his fingers, his grip tightened yet again, "Not until we've spent time together," he said firmly.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, exasperated, "It's only for a few hours! Then I will return, and we can continue!"

"_Now,"_ again with the dangerous, almost dark tone, red chakra physically licking up his arm and brushing her skin, almost causing her to flinch. The feeling wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't comfortable either.

Yamato took charge in a short moment after that, quickly twisting Naruto's arm back by the wrist, dislodging his grip on Sakura's arm, and with a swift jab, the blonde was unconscious and over his shoulder.

Sakura rubbed her wrist; glad it hadn't bruised, and had moved her hand away, when Renji pointed out, with a sort of detached fascination, "Your burnt…"

She examined her wrist again, and this time saw the faint chakra burns marring her fair skin. Apparently, the chakra had been denser than she was used to handling. Or maybe she was out of practice, a very unnerving thought that she pushed away, and hid firmly in the recesses of her mind.

Rubbing her wrist once again, she let a sliver of her chakra seep through her fingers, and she lightly caressed the burns, smiling as they faded away under the almost timid touch.

Renji leaned forward to watch, blatant curiosity plain on his face as the chakra soothed away the angry marks staining her skin. Sakura, noticing this, chuckled, "Would you like to come with myself and Kuchiki-taichou, Renji-fukutaichou?" she asked, "While in Suna, you may be able to see more complex healing jutsu first hand, if you so wish,"

"Yes!" Renji said a little too enthusiastically, before coughing into his fist, and repeating in a more serious tone, "Yes. That would be most appreciated, Haruno-san," he spoke her last name, a little unsure to how he should address her in the presence of her old teammates, when she laughed again, louder this time and chastised him, "Since I am allowed to call you by your first name, you are allowed the same privilege, Renji-fukutaichou. Sakura or Sakura-san is fine by me,"

Sai and Yamato bristled unnoticeably at the familiarity between Sakura and Renji, unsure of the redhead Shinigami and wary of his being there. To be honest, for the both of them, they would have to admit that what they were feeling was obvious jealousy. A feeling oft felt when the pink haired girl paid attention to others than themselves.

When the two had finished conversing, Sakura turned to Yamato, Sai, and the unconscious Naruto, bowing at the waist, "If you could please excuse me, I have to visit Kuchiki-taichou and his sister so it seems. I'll be able to see you when you return," her face softened as she glanced at Naruto, a sad look glazing over her eyes, "Tell Naruto-kun I'm sorry," she added quietly, the honorific slipping in with her guilt, wanting some way to console herself. Yamato nodded in return, "We shall. Looking forward to your return, Sakura,"

"Hai, Yamato-sensei!" Sakura smiled brightly, before she nodded to Renji, and the two left.

So, with old teammates left behind, and new ones in the wings, will our pink haired story holder forget her previous friends, and abandon them for those waiting for her in the future? That is something only time can tell.

And while we debate this solemn fact, it seems that a certain Uchiha isn't as dead as some thought he was. And revenge is high on his 'To-Do-List'.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It took a lot to shock Toushiro. So when Sakura returned to the office, covered in blood, he immediately stood, quietly and quickly assessing her for damage, his chair clattering to the floor with the force of which he had lifted from it.

Sakura didn't even so much as flinch at the sudden sound of the chair hitting the ground, glancing over silently, and slowly peeling tight leather gloves off of her hands that Toushiro hadn't noticed before. The contrast from her covered skin and her bloodied arms was almost disturbing, pale skin clashing with red.

During this time, Sakura hadn't spoken a word, watching Toushiro as if waiting for him to break the fragile silence surrounding them. Her eyes, normally respectful and warm when she faced him, were cold, sharp. Calculating. As if she were a predator and he what she hunted. Even her posture screamed she was ready to attack, the hand not tightly holding her gloves clenched by her side, a quiet thrum almost echoing in the office from the glow that slowly encompassed her fist.

Toushiro paid little to no attention to this, more focused on finding out whether or not she was hurt, or if the blood was from some other form of enemy. His fears of her injured were confirmed as she silently shifted, favouring her left leg, a bead of blood painstakingly slow trailing down from her hairline, sliding down her cheek and dropping off her chin.

She gave nothing else away to show she was hurt, and Toushiro realised, with a start, he had been staring, shifting his gaze to the side, examining the fellow ninja of Sakura that had appeared there not moments before.

"Sakura?" Naruto, hovering nervously at the doorway carefully asked, "Are you ok?"

"It was all for nothing," Sakura said softly and eventually, "Warning Gaara, warning Suna. It still happened, they still all died. They didn't stand a chance. I did all I could, healed who I could reach, fought who tried to stop me, but there were too many there. How is it that our 'great' Shinobi Nations can be taken down so easily?"

"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Naruto murmured, slowly approaching, tentatively resting his hand on her shoulder to her flinch. A few moments later, tears dripped from her eyes and her gloves hit the ground as she turned and pulled Naruto into a hug, "Akatsuki, Naruto. They didn't stand a chance against all of them, didn't stand a chance,"

Naruto's eyes widened as he realised what she was talking about, and he instead silently moved one arm around her, angling his other so he could gently smooth his hand through her blood soaked hair, apprehensively straightening her headband from where it had gone askew.

One of the others by the door, Sai, came close himself, just gently twining his fingers with Sakura's and loosening them from the back of Naruto's jacket, offering her his own form of comfort. Sakura gripped his hand tightly in response, if a little shakily, crying without a sound

Kakashi and Yamato stayed silent, just inside of the office, leaving the teammates to work it out between themselves, while Toushiro quietly straightened his chair and let them work it out.

After that incident, Sakura didn't leave her room for a whole two weeks and plus some, even when it was found out Gaara, his siblings, and many of Suna's inhabitants had made it to Seireitei.

Two weeks, four days and seventeen hours later...

It was the dead of night when Sakura finally, finally emerged. She was dressed in her ninja gear, hair damp from where it had been recently washed. She was thankful for the adjoined bathroom, or she might not have been able to hide away for as long as she had. Food wasn't too much of an issue.

Her sword was attached at the hip, and on her thighs, held there by sheathes, were several knives. Positioned around her were various other pieces of equipment, pouches of kunai and shuriken and her pack of medical items.

Glancing up and down the corridor, she silently tied her headband on, quietly shutting her door to a sharp _click!_ sound.

She had no idea of the time, but that was of no concern to her at the moment, creeping down the hallway, keeping close to the wall as to not agitate some of the floorboards. As it was, a few of them gave protesting squeaks and creaks, to which she cringed, but a majority of them stayed steady and silent to which she was thankful.

There was no need to leave a note as to her absence, as she was hoping to be back in her bed before morning, only needing a few hours to complete what she wanted. In theory, she was already dead, and decided that no living thing could kill her. They could see her, she knew ninjas were adept at this with their heightened senses, but she fervently hoped that wouldn't cause a problem. At this godforsaken hour of time, it only seemed right that nobody would be awake, them included.

Sakura was on a self given mission to assassinate the Akatsuki in their sleep. It seemed only fair.

She just didn't realise the trouble she would get into.

An hour and a half later...

In hindsight, Sakura realised that when she had gone back to Konoha, she had managed to touch Ino's corpse, and also have Naruto hug her. Which was why she was in her current predicament of being sat in the middle of a huge, cavernous hall, surrounded by the members of Akatsuki, blood trickling down her cheek.

Poor planning, anger, the want for revenge, she could list the problems she had caused already, and sighed steadily, casually swiping blood from near her eye, not wanting to be blinded. At least the upside of being a Shinigami was seeing the look on the eldest Uchiha's face when he realised his level of the Sharingan had no effect on her. Yeah, that was definitely worth it.

Another thing she was glad of was that she had managed to break a few bones before she was subdued, one in the blonde the Bingo Book named Deidara, and several in the large partner of Itachi, Kisame. She would have to admit as well, that because of the added reiatsu, his monstrous sword, Samehada, had little to no effect to her, and that was why she got the lucky damage in, amidst his shock.

Life was good when you're dead, but now it was time to find a way out of her situation before she was sent into a death she would never recover from. She had up to about three hours to get out as alive as she was and return before her absence was noticed, and she didn't want to be found out, since killing living people was against the rules of Seireitei. Well, as far as she knew. She wasn't tempted to push it.

She slowly stood up from her downed state, ignoring the horrible pain that ripped through her leg, the result of getting too close to a puppet, and she cracked her knuckles, reaching into one of her pouches to pull out a set of gloves, and slowly slide them on, letting the edges go so they snapped tight against her skin.

Turning in a full, complete circle to meet each and every one of them in the eye, she said, calmly, and as if she weren't in a life and death situation, "Suna. You attacked it a few weeks ago. Which one of you killed Gaara?"

"It was me, un," Deidara spoke up, "I took him down before and wasn't allowed to kill him and because he was brought back to life. I got him back for ripping my ar -" he didn't get much past that, as Sakura suddenly shot forward with surprising speed, fist crunching into his nose. The person next to him on his immediate left and Sakura's right, a masked person called Tobi, got her foot slammed into his face as he tried to intervene, and as the only girl member tried to stop her from behind, Sakura jerked her elbow back and shoved it into her gut.

All attacks were reinforced with chakra, and so she had to dodge it quickly so she didn't want to get anymore blood on her, not wanting to return to Seireitei covered in blood as it was a pain to get out. Sure, she was bleeding, but none of it was on her clothes. Yet.

It seemed her luck ran out then as what felt like thorny vines wrapped around her ankle, spikes biting deep into her skin. She was lifted from the floor, and thrown violently halfway across the large room, hitting the floor and sliding along it painfully until she came to a stop against the wall.

Strangely enough, salvation came in the form of a hooded figure that had appeared the glint of a white Hollow mask just about visible in the depths of the hood. This stranger hauled her off of the floor, and set her on her feet. Moments later he flickered out of sight to attack, and to the absolute horror of the Akatsuki, Itachi was the unfortunate target, a sword going through him with no hopes of recovery.

His killer flashed back to Sakura's side, grabbed her wrist tightly and disappeared with her, ignoring her protests of wanting to stay despite it being a lost cause to her.

A few miles away...

"What are you doing?" Sakura finally snapped as the person settled with her in a place they found safe enough. Instead of answering, they pushed down their hood, revealing black, oddly familiar shaped hair.

Running their hand through their hair, they pushed the white mask that was covering their face halfway up, and quite suddenly, grabbed Sakura by her shoulders , yanking her forward for a bruising and sudden kiss.

Sakura couldn't process any rational thought then, but when she felt a tongue drag across her bottom lip, she bit theirs in return and she shoved the person away. Her push knocked the mask from the strangers face, showing none other than Sasuke Uchiha, who was licking his lip absently, flicking his hand and dismissing the mask with a bored expression.

Sakura staggered back a good few metres, hand moving to her hip as she readied to draw her Zanpaktou. She had just drawn it an inch from its sheathe when he was in front of her again, hand on hers forcing the sword away and catching her wrist, free hand catching hers before she had a chance to strike him.

Moving both of her hands to one of his, he regarded her lazily, free hand catching her chin as he dragged his thumb across her lips, narrowly missing being bitten again, Sakura glaring at him fiercely and choosing not to talk.

It seemed he was in no hurry to speak either, just keeping her subdued and watching her quietly with a speculative look on his face. Eventually, he muttered, "Ichigo Kurosaki. You know him. He knows you. He's been training me to be a Vizard, along with some others," he paused to take in a slow breath, "I'm actually quite surprised now I think about it that you nearly killed me, more so that you survived my attack,"

Sakura resisted replying with a jibe, or spitting at him, and instead said, in a voice bordering on furious, "And what do you want from me?"

Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow, "It's not what I want though, is it? Isn't it always what _you_ wanted? I don't know if it's just a crush you had for me or if you truly loved me, but isn't this what you've wanted?" he leaned forward as if to kiss her again, when Sakura avoided him turning her head and blurting out the first thing that came to mind, "I'm going out with Ichigo-kun!"

Sasuke's free hand moved to the side of her face, making her turn towards him again, "I'm sure I can change that,"

Sakura desperately changed subject again, "Why me? Why now? _Why?"_

"Why indeed, " Sasuke mused, "Maybe this attraction I feel for you now started when I realised how deadly these hands of yours are, as you so nearly killed me with them, you've become a lot stronger, unbelievably so since I myself killed you,"

It seemed as if he were about to lean close again, when he suddenly let her go and stood back, freeing her hands. Before she could move to attack him, a surprised voice Sakura identified as Ichigo called out, "Sakura? Why are you here and not in Seireitei?"

Sakura turned, and Ichigo had a double take, "Better question, why are you so beat up?" he didn't seem as surprised at seeing Sasuke there.

"That is..."

"I called her out," Sasuke broke in smoothly, "I was an ex teammate of hers –"

"Who killed Naruto and burnt Konoha to the ground!"

"- and I wanted to catch up with her, though I know I would probably never gain her forgiveness,"

"Stop with the bullcrap Uchiha!"

Sasuke ignored her, and instead coolly asked Ichigo, "I confronted her earlier about it, are you and Sakura currently in a relationship?"

Ichigo made a choking noise, "I...uh...that is...we're _friends..._why'd you ask?"

Sakura had flushed in anger at Sasuke, and he smirked, "No reason. Goodbye, Sakura, Kurosaki-kun," he mockingly saluted and disappeared.

Sakura sighed, rubbing her wrists, absently noting they hurt slightly from where Sasuke had hold of her, "I presume your with him?" she finally asked Ichigo.

"No, actually I was sent here to check up on things. Hollows have been seen about six miles away in one of the villages you have around, so," he shrugged, "What are you doing outside? We haven't seen you in weeks,"

Sakura gave a weak smile, "I was meeting up with Uchiha?"

"Cut to the chase Sakura, you made it sound like you wouldn't meet up with him even if it would kill you, why are you really out?"

Sakura chewed her lip nervously, drawing it to attention of Ichigo who only seemed to notice its swollen state, "Unless you really were meeting up with him and I interrupted..."

Sakura seemed horrified at his train of thought, denying it vehemently, and saying quickly with a shake of her head, "No! I was just tying up some loose ends, and he..." she grumbled the next bit, "Saved me from a sticky situation,"

"How sticky?"

"As in 'I-wouldn't-be-alive-right-now' sticky,"

Ichigo whistled, "Must've been a tricky opponent if they were giving you a run for your money,"

"Opponent_s_," Sakura corrected, stressing the 'S' sound, "There was more than one,"

"How many more than one?"

Sakura held up a hand, asking him to wait a moment as she flicked out her Bingo Book, ever present somewhere on her person, "The Akatsuki. Pein, Konan, Hidan, Kazuku, Deidara, Sasori, Itachi – deceased, Tobi, Zetsu, Kisame. Itachi was still alive at the time, so that makes it up to ten opponents, as there was only Pein rather than six,"

"_Ten? _ Sakura, I know your hardcore and all, but don't you set yourself limits?"

"Well, this was more of a vendetta. Remember I asked you to meet up with Gaara? When I went there with Renji-fukutaichou, that Akatsuki were already in the middle of destroying the village. They've ruined enough lives already, I wanted to...you know," she shrugged gently; "They were obviously a little too much for me to fight against and withstand. We should probably leave before they find us, and I need to return until it's been found out I left,"

Ichigo sighed deeply, reaching into his robes, pulling out a butterfly, "Use this. I'll get through with Urahara later on. Good luck on not getting caught,"

Sakura accepted it gratefully, when Ichigo suddenly caught her wrist with one hand, using the other to hesitantly touch her still bruised looking lips with his fingertips. Shaking his head, he stepped back and left leaving Sakura to contemplate his behaviour quietly, pressing her own fingers to her lips thoughtfully.

Tenth Division Building...

Sakura managed to return as stealthily as she had left, though when she looked back on it, maybe she wasn't as quiet as she thought she was. She didn't expect it, as she walked into her bedroom, to be pinned to the door she had just walked through. It was still fairly late, it wouldn't be another hour or so until the earliest of those in the Division would be waking up, so she didn't know who it was.

She was at a disadvantageous position, and was uncomfortable with this, promptly jerking her knee into her captors gut. The groan of pain that followed was both male and familiar, causing Sakura to hiss quietly in shock, "Naruto?"

"Why did you do that?" he gasped, letting her go and stumbling back, wrapping his arms around his stomach, "I wanted to make sure you were ok, I was checking on you every night and when I couldn't find you, I panicked!"

"I didn't know who you were either, why do you think I attacked you? Wait, have you been spying on me?" Sakura tutted, annoyed at him and herself for not picking up on him. She forgave him instantly though at the kicked puppy look he gave her, "I was worried Sakura. You're my friend, and you hid yourself away, I wanted to make sure you were safe,"

"I'm not exactly going to get hurt in this room Naruto," she sighed, "As far as I know, you're the only one who has been getting in and out, so you don't have to worry about me getting hurt from someone just because you're still unfamiliar with your surroundings,"

"Sakura, none of us know these people, not even you, no matter what you say about it. I can't help but –"

Sakura cut him off with a quiet, "Shh. I know that Naruto, but at least we're back together as a team, right? At least our friends are here; at least we don't have to fear that we're never going to see each other again. Not now we know that death isn't final,"

"I guess..." Naruto replied dismally, dropping his gaze to watch the floor, and Sakura couldn't help but sigh, "Come here you," she opened her arms and her met her gladly, wrapping his own arms around her as she did the same, as if she were his lifeline.

Eventually, the standing position got to be too much, and Sakura, tired from lack of sleep and her fighting, managed to coax Naruto over to her bed, as she didn't want him to leave, both for his presence and his warmth.

Settling onto the bed, with Naruto lying behind her, Sakura started to drift off to sleep, the feel of Naruto still with his arm about her helping along with how comfortable she was.

Tired and sore, Sakura didn't think of what her Division's reactions would be if they attempted their daily entrance to her room, considering she hadn't locked the door and her legs were tangled with Naruto's, his face pressed to her hair.

Sleep was more important to her at the moment, a shower next on the list for when she woke up.

So, an Uchiha with a different agenda than was thought, a puzzled captain as to his subordinate, and a problem that is certain to arise when our heroine is found in bed with another...yet we can't help but wonder...everyone as of yet has ended up in Soul Society one way or another. Does this bode the same, for the eldest Uchiha?

Only time can truly tell.


	7. Note

AUTHORS NOTE:

Okay, I already know that I take a long time updating, but there's a chance that time will be even longer now. I've been to the hospital, because I've been having pain my back. Turns out I have a condition called 'scoliosis' and I may have to have spine surgery to have rods inserted as my spine is at a dangerous curve that could damage my internal organs. I'm sorry if this will cause any inconvenience, but I just wish to focus on getting better. Before the surgery, I'll try and update with new chapters, but I'm sorry if I am unable to.

Thank you for your understanding.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Sakura woke up to the feeling of something hard digging into her back, presumably a knee, and a heavy weight resting over her waist. She hadn't a clue what the time was, but decided it was late as her internal clock felt out of sync. She blamed it on the night before, when everything suddenly came back in a rush, and she jerked in shock.

In retaliation, the weight over her waist tightened, and she felt the distinct shape of a hand pressing against her hip, a warm breath tickling the back of her neck as Naruto murmured, "It's too early Sakura-chan... lets sleep a few more hours, 'kay...?"

"I need a shower Naruto," she mumbled in reply, prying his arm from around to his disgruntlement, "You can sleep longer, I need all this blood and grime off of me," she dragged herself into a sitting position in the bed, before swinging her legs out.

She let off a small shiver as her bare feet came in contact with the wood, realising blearily that sometime during the night she must have kicked her sandals off, and promptly froze when she noticed who was standing in the doorway.

"Does this happen to be the reason why you refuse to open your door Sakura?" Toushiro drawled, leaning against the doorframe, "Because he's with you?"

"It's not like that!" Sakura denied it vehemently as she caught on to what he was instigating, a horrified look on her face, "Myself and Naruto, we're just friends, and he's only here because I wasn't in my room last night an-...shit, shouldn't have said that,"

Toushiro snorted, finding her reaction quite funny, "I was merely just stating what I thought of the situation. If I was wrong, you merely had to correct me. Now, about not being in your room last night, would you like to enlighten me...?"

A shower, breakfast and one explanation later...

"And then Kurosaki-san showed up?"

"Yes, he did," Sakura replied softly, stood in front of Toushiro's desk, head bowed, "He gave me his way back to Seireitei shortly after Sasuke left," she winced at his name, hoping it wasn't noticeable. She hadn't mentioned the kiss to Toushiro, but thinking of the youngest Uchiha, she couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks, moving her fingertips to her lips as she remembered the circumstances her and Sasuke had faced, and the activity they had partaken in.

Toushiro narrowed his eyes at Sakura's response and how her body language changed by saying the name. He was smart enough to add two and two together, and suddenly, not even sure what he was doing himself, he stood, leaned over his desk and caught the front of Sakura's shirt, yanking her towards him as he crushed their mouths together.

Sakura had already opened her mouth to question him at the sharp tug, giving him the opportunity to expertly slide his tongue across her bottom lip before plunging it into her mouth, swiping it against the roof of her mouth and against her teeth before curling it around her tongue, trying to coax her into responding.

Completely against her will, she blamed it on her body for being so weak, Sakura moaned into the kiss, feeling her legs go weak as she closed her eyes. After a few moments, Toushiro broke the contact of their lips, leaving her to gasp for breath as his mouth traced a cool, smooth path against her jaw and towards her ear when they were interrupted by a shocked yell of, "WHAT THE HELL?"

Naruto had woken up, and was watching them with a shocked expression, bordering on fury against Toushiro. Sakura blushed up to her ears, stammered something out to do with training, and promptly left, trying her absolute best to force the redness of her cheeks down as she smoothed out her ruffled shirt.

When Sakura was gone, Naruto made it his job to glare angrily and furiously at Toushiro who adjusted himself and sat down at his desk, shuffling papers as if they were more important than the enraged Jinchuuriki opposite him, "If you are done sleeping, I suggest you leave the divi –" Toushiro finally began, but was cut off as Naruto approached and slammed his hands down on the desk. Hard.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you were doing to Sakura?"

"I didn't realise it was a crime to show affection to another," Toushiro responded drily, not feeling the slightest bit intimidated, fixing cold eyes on Naruto, "I think the better question is why did you respond so negatively to the attention I was giving her? I wasn't under the impression that the two or you were currently partaking in any sort of relationship past friendship,"

Naruto shook almost dangerously, hands clenching on the desk, nails that were elongating scratching deep gouges into the desk. Toushiro took a wary note of that, "You haven't known Sakura long enough to start something like her on that, Sakura has standards, you can't force yourself on her like you did!" Naruto's eyes darkened further with every syllable spoken, until a deep red colour began discolouring his eyes from their normal blue.

Toushiro didn't answer to what was said, and simply and calmly stated, "I would like to request that you leave my office now. You are disrupting my w –" he didn't get much farther than that, Naruto moving with surprising and deadly speed, slamming Toushiro to the wall with his hands around his throat, hissing quietly, _"If you know what is best for you, you should leave Sakura-chan alone,"_ Naruto shoved himself away and snarled, confusing Toushiro with the plural notion of, "She's _ours,"_

Before Toushiro had a chance to reply to that statement, Naruto had disappeared, though a disconcerting red swirl of chakra lingered in the office for a few seconds longer.

He barely paid any attention to his subordinates who had assembled at the ominous feeling of Naruto's chakra, Matsumoto starting to fuss around him and tending the rapidly bruising and burning skin of his neck.

With Sakura...

Sakura, surprisingly enough, had met up with the eldest Kuchiki sibling, and was sat with him on the edge of his division building looking out into a well trimmed and neat garden. Sakura, learning from her last mistake of being kissed by Sasuke, had healed the swelling of her lips and was now sipping tea with Byakuya, just enjoying the outdoors.

"How did you enjoy the company of my sister?" Byakuya finally asked with a soft, collected voice, setting his cup next to his leg. Sakura took another sip before she replied, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear before she replied, "Rukia was pleasant company to keep, Kuchiki-taichou,"

"No need to be so formal Haruno-san,"

"I could say the same for you, Kuchiki-taichou,"

"We can come to a compromise, I believe," he lifted his cup to take a gentle sip of it, "I can call you Sakura, and in return, you call me by my own name,"

Sakura smiled around the rim of her cup as she took a drink from it, "That seems like a good idea, Kuchiki – I mean, Byakuya-san,"

"_Just_ Byakuya, Sakura," was said softly in return, and Sakura's smile widened, "Ok then. Byakuya,"

After that, silence reigned, apart from the occasional and accidental 'slurp' from Sakura. Every time such a noise would occur, an unnoticeable smile would curve around the edge of Byakuya's mouth, though every time he would dutifully hide it with his tea cup.

This silence stayed present for a long moment, until a new voice broke in, "Sakura. Your assistance is required. Someone new has arrived through death," Sakura slowly set her cup down, standing with a bow to Byakuya as she turned to face her captain. As a sign of respect because of Byakuya's presence, she bowed again and then Sakura dared to ask, "Hitsugaya-taichou...may I ask what injured your neck?"

"It is just any sort of superficial injury. Do not worry about it; I request your assistance,"

"Hitsugaya-taichou, if I may be so bold, that injury looks like it were caused by chakra," without explaining further, Sakura stepped closer and leant up towards him, fingertips brushing against his neck. She forced herself to ignore the hitching of his breath and the avid focus of his eyes on her face. Slowly, she brought chakra to the surface of her skin, letting it thrum before spreading out and covering her hand in the green healing glow.

She was biting her lip in concentration, and Toushiro watched her silently, finding himself starting to stare. There was a fierce look in her eyes, as she was feeling conflicted, worried over the injury she was healing and angry at who had caused it, and Toushiro admired her as she lifted her free hand to swipe her vibrant hair out of the way of her vision.

When the chakra burn had faded away to be replaced by the pale colour of Toushiro's skin, Sakura dragged her finger down the curve of his throat and nodded, pleased with her handiwork, "I'm sorry for interrupting Hitsugaya-taichou. If you could please continue..."

"We believe someone from your world is here. Unfortunately, he has managed to severely injure one of the other divisions personnel, and it was advised that your experience over this type of fighting were utilised,"

Sakura frowned at his words, facial expressions twisting with her thought. As far as she knew, the Shinobi she knew personally were all here, in Seireitei. And then, sharply, cold realisation crossed her face.

The look she gave almost ran chills down Toushiro's back, had it not been that his affinity was for ice. There was only one person Sakura could think of it, and it was enough to make her want to hiss in fury.

It took Sakura a few moments to realise that Toushiro had been speaking her name for a short while and she blinked, looking at him, "I'm sorry, Hitsugaya-taichou. There is only one person that I assume this could be, and considering his nature, I do not think I have the ability to subdue him,"

"Why would that be, Sakura?"

"If I may be as bold to as to answer your question with my own," she began, "Then can you tell me at least this. This person who has arrived, is he male? If so, is his hair long and black, with his eyes a deep red? If these attributes match, then I am afraid you have a member of the Akatsuki here in Seireitei, a notorious group that lay waste to my village shortly before Sasuke Uchiha did,"

Toushiro was silent for a few moments, just assessing her reactions to what she had said. Finally, he asked, "Is there anything you would advise we do?"

"Do not send amateurs to him, he is ruthless enough to kill them," Sakura listed off, "There is a chance that his ability is even beyond that of a captain's and anyone facing him should not give eye contact, unless they want to experience seventy two hours worth of torture in a short time. There's a chance this doesn't work on Shinigami, but you should not risk it unless you are completely certain. If you would excuse me, I shall find Tsunade-shishou to help with this matter," Sakura bowed deeply, "Thank you Hitsugaya-taichou. You were right to tell me of this matter, instead of letting anyone pursue and approach this particular person,"

As Sakura straightened, Toushiro then found it appropriate to swoop forward to steal another kiss. This action caused a flush to cross Sakura's cheeks, before she scolded him that it was neither 'the place nor the time, Hitsugaya-taichou! Now if you please...'

Byakuya had widened his eyes and then narrowed them sharply, finding it hard to keep his reiatsu under control with the conflicting feels he was warring with at seeing the blatant show of affection the other captain had given to the pink haired kunoichi.

He tightened his hand into a fist, but before he had a chance to include his thoughts on the matter, Sakura bowed to him, and then to Toushiro, and left. He felt odd smugness at being bowed to first.

After Toushiro had left, Byakuya took up playing with the tea cup that Sakura had abandoned the sweet smelling drink still present in the bottom of the container. There was an unfamiliar expression on his face playing around his lips, and it made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Shaking his head, he returned to his duties.

With Sakura and Tsunade...

"So that is the issue, shishou," Sakura said between gasps of breath, "We have perfect reason to believe that Uchiha is here, since I observed his death in the 'material' world,"

"I'll ask the reason why you were present there later," Tsunade said disapprovingly, when Sakura shook her head, "I apologise shishou, but I no longer answer to you,"

"Not as a Hokage Sakura, as a person. I'm worried for your safety, and am sure I'm not the only person who thinks that way o – " there was a loud almost explosion sounding noise, smoke rising quickly from a residential area of the Soul Society. Sakura bowed her head, "We'll talk of this later. I may be needed,"

Without waiting for her to reply, Sakura took off in the direction with determination, hand firmly on the hilt of her sword as was the customary style of quickstepping in Seireitei. She had little to no warning when something crashed into her ribs, toppling her over with a startled and choked noise.

Opening her eyes were impact had made them shut, she came face to face with her target, red, swirling eyes staring straight into her. Involuntarily, Sakura felt herself tensing up, sucking in a sharp breath between her teeth as she stopped breathing a moment later, eyes wide as she watched him back. She felt a strange tug, as if she were about to leave her body but other than that, nothing more happened. He just stared at her, disconcerting, unmoving.

Sakura was aware of other people around her, but her focus was completely on the ninja above her. He was in her comfort zone and above her in an embarrassingly intimate way. His knee was between her legs, his hands either side of her head. She was glad that she was wearing shorts under her skirt all of a sudden at how he was above her.

It was obvious that being in Seireitei had thrown him. Had he been working as normal, he would have avoided her completely and entirely, not make the mistake that led him towards her. The Akatsuki knew Sakura's reputation, just as well and if not better than she knew theirs.

"Haruno..." he said slowly. His voice sounded like a caress, with only the slightest hint of surprise in the deep timbres. He was only halfway through the word when Sakura drove her left knee up. She was aiming to slam it into his groin, hoping it'd get him off. Instead, his hand jerked down, caught the offending limb, and twisted it over to the side in such a harsh movement, she hissed with pain between her teeth. His head cocked at the noise that escaped her, when he rolled away and to his feet. Sakura inwardly questioned his movement when a sword drove into the ground two inches from her left ear, Ichigo suddenly replacing the Akatsuki ninja. He gave a brief nod, not at all perturbed that he had just invaded her personal space, as; again, he went after the ninja.

By the time Sakura had gotten herself to her feet, the two were clashing, sword to kunai as various members of Seireitei stood around in discord, unsure as to whether or not they should interrupt the fight the two were so violently involved in. Sakura steeled herself, gathered up her chakra, and was about to charge forward when a familiar energy washed over her and a hand settled on her shoulder. She shook it off with violence, "It is in your best interest not to interrupt me, Uchiha,"

"It is in your best interest not to get involved,"

"Perhaps you don't know I can look after myself, and know my own interests Uchiha," she shot a cold look at the Uchiha who was currently next to her, Sasuke, "This is my village now, and I shall protect it as I wish, especially against the likes of your kind, such as your brother,"

Shaking the angry, loathing feeling that almost blinded her with its intensity away, Sakura drew her sword in a graceful movement, silently asking herself if she were ready. With no more than a whispered, "May my aim be true, as is yours, my good friend," she shot forward, chasing after the fight that had begun to escalate between those of her former world, and that of her current world.

Sakura slipped into the battle just as Itachi had been aiming to drive the kunai across Ichigo's throat, his speed almost unfathomable. Instead, the weapon nicked across Sakura's cheek, drawing a fine line of blood before she threw up her sword, in an attempt to smack the flat against Itachi's wrist, trying to force him to drop the knife. Her sword was only halfway up when the man disappeared.

Sakura felt herself slip into battle mode, and without a word, she began to sheathe her sword, blue, green energies swirling about her hands. She would not fight one of her own with a weapon so cumbersome, so foreign. Wordlessly, Ichigo accepted her belt, sword attached, and Sakura swiped her bangs away from her eyes.

She was aware of eyes on her, this way and that, and with a quick step, had slid to the side as Itachi sliced into the air she had been in not a split second before. Using the heel of her palm, she smacked it into his wrist, hoping to disarm him, and swiftly, she rolled over his back, landing in a crouch before flicking her heel up, attempting to catch him in the stomach.

When she came to again, the world around her was a meaningless blur. She felt in pain all over, and was on her stomach on a hard ground. Her ankle was burning in agony worse than anywhere else on her body. In hindsight, she realised she'd done something too ambitious over her move.

What startled her beyond belief was that Itachi was stood there, willingly letting himself be bound, both by the wrists and by the neck. He was watching her with seriousness, though after a moment of staring back, Sakura looked aside, feeling uncomfortable. She realised that someone had a hand in front of her face, and was watching her.

Following the hand up and arm to a face, she saw Ichigo there, worry on his face. To the side and a little behind him was Sasuke. She refused to believe the odd, almost blank expression on his face, apart from that little twitch he had at the corner of his mouth was concern. It didn't fit.

Accepting the help, she was dragged up violently, hissing between her teeth at the pain that shot through her ankle. She was almost crippled and knocked over again as her vision blurred in pain. Her chest felt tight, painfully. Trying to steady herself, a burning pain shooting into her chest by her ribs. She staggered, and felt arms wrap around her, constricting her chest. Sakura gasped, her chest tightening in pain, and again, she blacked out, feeling more than one broken rib.

So...it seems that Seireitei is attracting more and more denizens from the world of Shinobi, each seemingly more bizarre and dangerous than the last.

With the unexpected arrival, and even more shocking that of his surrender, it seems that both worlds are changing in unexpected ways. What seemed like a simple life for a lost Kunoichi, is that no longer.

**Author's Notes**

I am very sorry for this lousy ending, and I know this chapter is probably shorter than most and riddled with mistakes, but like I placed as a note ahead of this chapter, I have scoliosis and am finding it hard to concentrate on most things, let alone updating. Also, in the next month and a bit I'll be taking my GCSE's. For those of you not British, these are exams that are important to helping us get a job or into University. _However_ in the weeks after, in my summer holiday, depending if I have the time, I will attempt to write and put up as many updates as I can during the six weeks. Thank you so much for all your reviews and continued support.

**Disclaimer: I have no rights to Naruto or to Bleach. Any incidents pertaining to real life in this piece of fiction are merely coincidental and unrelated.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Sakura limped around the office, a clearly disgruntled expression on her face. A pair of crutches was resting against the wall by her desk, obviously the source of her bad mood. As well as the disgruntlement, there was annoyance and irritation on her face, fouling her mood further because of the presence of Sasuke Uchiha.

Now, this normally wouldn't be a problem for her. She had learnt to ignore him, she had gotten over her petty dislikes and downright hatred for the man, but what he currently was doing served to not only annoy her, but piss her off beyond belief. Sasuke Uchiha had become Sakura Haruno's unofficial stalker.

It started since she left the hospital with the crutches. He had been standing outside and, without a word, had taken the crutches off of her, wrapped his free arm around her waist, and had proceeded to _baby_ her, despite her aggravation because of his actions.

From there, he had all but carried her to the office where he would stand watching her all day. When it came to the time of day she retired to her room within the Division, he would walk in ahead of her, check the security of the window and add traps, before watching her climb into bed. After that, he would shut and lock the door and down against the wall closest to her bed, keeping constant scrutiny on her. And despite her best attempts, she couldn't get rid of him.

What well and truly frustrated her, however, was his adamant attitude over who she was allowed to see. Whenever Naruto, Sai, Kakashi or Yamato came within only feet of her, Sasuke would run them off with some badmouthing or some similar assholery as she had named it.

Sai she could partially understand Sasuke's hatred to. Sai had been Sasuke's replacement and the two had never been on good terms, what, with the whole searching for Sasuke and fighting him thing, and Yamato also fell into that category, but his wariness to Naruto and Kakashi? The boys had been best friend, the man his mentor, so what was Sasuke's problem?

Not to mention how angry and nasty he was against Toushiro. Sakura had tried to ditch him so she could apologise to her superior for his – that being Sasuke's – actions, however, losing the Uchiha had been harder than she thought. Eventually, she had just shouted at him although all that got her was a bemused look.

After another week of the same treatment she lost it and punched him right in his smug face. She ended up sending him through two walls and he narrowly missed hitting a Tenth Division member who looked almost frightened at the near hit.

Sakura shouted a quick apology and then ran for it as fast as she could, though with a heavily concealed limp, hoping she'd have enough time to get away from Sasuke before he recovered. She had put up with his antics for far long enough.

She didn't get as far away as she hoped, when a hand caught her arm and dragged her into a room. She whirled around; hoping to get another, quick hit in, when cool, turquoise eyes met her own, and she let her hand drop, her head bowing gently. "Hitsugaya-taichou..." she began warmly. "I was looking for you. I thought you were training at this time of day."

"There have been some pressing matters lately that I have had to attend to." Toushiro let go of her wrist as he shut the door to the room and locked it, raising the level of his reiatsu to mask Sakura's own, so they wouldn't be disturbed. "And one of those matters, include you, Sakura."

"Yes?" Sakura's brow furrowed in question, wondering what he could want her for, and she blinked in surprise as he pressed his middle and index finger gently to her forehead, smoothing the wrinkles caused by her frowns away.

"I haven't been able to speak to you lately. Since you are my third seat, I need to talk of important matters with you." Toushiro walked across the room and turned to lean against the desk present near the far wall, leaving Sakura stood almost awkwardly at the edge of the room by the door.

"I can explain, Hitsugaya-taichou. As you have probably noticed, Sasuke, he...and...he won't..." Unable to explain her old teammate-turned-traitor's behaviour, Sakura stammered at the end of her sentence and fell silent, lips pursed.

"I understand, Sakura. Sasuke Uchiha has been following you for the past week now since your release from the hospital. Perhaps if I had the time, I would have done the same." A rueful look crossed his face which confused Sakura, though she didn't comment on it and just nodded almost dumbly in reply.

"However, this isn't what I came here to talk about." Toushiro straightened so he was no longer leaning against the desk. "The other captains have come to an agreement as you being the only one from another world in a Division, you are required to question the one called Itachi Uchiha as to why he is here and what he intends to do."

Sakura hesitated fiercely, her arm wrapping around her chest as she shifted her weight so she was leaning on her better leg, moving herself ever so slightly so she was resting against the wall. Toushiro noted this with the barest of frowns and he started to speak, "If you don't want to do this, then – "

"It shouldn't be a problem at all, Hitsugaya-taichou." Sakura made herself give him a smile as she interrupted him. "If it is for the best of Seireitei, I will do my best to obtain the answers that the captains wish to know. I only have one personal request, however. Before I am to question the Uchiha, can his eyes be covered, of course, assuming this isn't a problem for anyone..."

"After your encounter with him, this precaution has already been taken, though he has not attempted his attack on anyone else, submitting easily after his battle with you." Sakura missed the way that Toushiro's mouth tightened as he remembered the fight that Sakura had underestimated. "And he has been sealed, so there is no chance of his escape," Toushiro added as well, hoping that his words would ease the burden placed on his Shinigami. The use of the word 'his' didn't seem to bother him these days either, though he found it hard to understand why. Referring to Sakura that way seemed almost a given.

Sakura bowed her head towards him respectfully, murmuring a 'thank you, taichou' to him before she sighed to herself. She had just escaped one Uchiha, now she had to go and face the – admittedly – more dangerous one? This wasn't shaping out to be her day.

As she was caught in her own world, Toushiro couldn't help but think that an irritated Sakura happened to quite a cute Sakura. She may have thought that her looks bordered on intimidating while she was in an angry mood but she was wrong. The truth was, was that she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout and – Toushiro felt his pupils dilate as he watched her – she would nibble it ever few moments.

Now, Toushiro hadn't had that much experience with people, either of his own gender or the opposite (Matsumoto aside) because most people thought of him as icy as his zanpaktou. Most people thought he didn't have much emotion to him, that he was cold and quiet and he was just a completely stoic person. Most people were wrong.

Sakura hadn't noticed Toushiro's almost contemplative look, caught in her sulking over the fact that she would have to find Itachi in the prison tower's and then no doubt take part in an unsuccessful interrogation. Not to mention she would have to stop Sasuke from finding her and following her. The Uchiha brothers meeting would _not _bode well for anyone and probably leave a mess which meant she would have to be left behind so she could clean it up.

As she chewed her lip and mused thoughtfully over this, she missed the way her captain's eyes darkened until most of his aqua eyes were taken up by his pupils as they dilated, leaving only a ring of colour. In fact, Sakura had almost forgotten that Toushiro was there altogether. Well, until he moved that was.

"H-Hitsugaya-taichou?" Sakura asked in a faltering voice and with uncertainty as Toushiro, who had been previously leaning on the desk again across the room, suddenly seemed to appear in front of her. The only warning she had received for his appearance was a brush of air against her face and the momentary hitch in his ever present reiatsu.

Toushiro simply ignored her questioning tone, even as she repeated herself, a little shakily, he noted, after he had rest one hand on her jaw, his thumb brushing her cheekbone as his other hand settled on her opposite shoulder.

Sakura started stammering, unsure what was happening, giving an involuntary shiver because of the conflicting sensation of the confusion she was currently experiencing and the feeling of her captain's thumb brushing ever so softly against her face. Even her breathing caught in her throat as her eyes widened at the close proximity of Toushiro's face.

Because of his – assumed – cold and almost harsh nature, Toushiro didn't have much understanding of women, aside from what he had experienced when he was alive, and that one heated kiss he had shared with Sakura before she had scurried away. Looking at her flushed face, and nervously twitching hands as she chewed her bottom lip, staring at him with wide, unsure eyes, Toushiro decided he was going to change that fact.

As Sakura finally managed to find her voice long enough to ask another question, her words were swallowed up by Toushiro's mouth as he pressed it firmly against hers, their teeth clacking briefly together because of her just slightly parted lips.

Sakura was frozen for almost a full half-minute, panic clear in her eyes as she stared back into Toushiro's cool gaze, his eyes intently on her face. It was when she felt his tongue brush her bottom lip, that she lifted her hands to push him away, pressing her lips firmly together. He didn't give her the chance to get away. One hand slid down to her waist, holding her tightly there, as the hand resting on her jaw slid up to the back of her head, tangling in her pink tresses and holding her closer. Once again, his tongue slid across her mouth, this time against the seam of her lips and Sakura let her hands grip at Toushiro's robes, conflicting and confusing feelings flowing through her.

As her hands tensed, ready to use chakra to push Toushiro away, Sakura felt him nibble her bottom lip tentatively and she couldn't help the squeak that left her. This gave him enough room to slide his tongue into her mouth, wrapping around hers and running against her teeth. In response, Sakura let her arms drop away and down to her sides.

Toushiro took this as acceptance so it seemed, as he stepped closer, pressing Sakura against the wall with his body gently, still wary of her injuries. He tilted his head just slightly so he could deepen the kiss, trying to coax Sakura into responding and eventually, after giving a gentle twitch at his action, Sakura started to hesitantly return the kiss.

By the time Toushiro pulled away, hands still lingering in her hair and at her waist, Sakura was breathing heavily, her eyes closed and head tilted up in the direction he'd moved away from. Her cheeks were flushed; Toushiro moved his hand slowly from her hair to brush his knuckles softly against where her skin was darker and his action made her jolt, hands lifting quickly and pressing against his stomach, pushing him away.

This time, Toushiro stepped back, observing Sakura's expression which flickered rapidly between worried, confused and perhaps the slightest bit satisfied. Without waiting, she bowed deeply, stammered something out and, as fast as her limp allowed her, she left the room, accidentally breaking the door as she had forgotten to unlock it in her haste to wrench the door open and hobble away.

Halfway down the corridor she ducked into an empty room, leaned against the wall and let herself slide down it, trying to understand what exactly had just happened. She hadn't quite processed it yet, but when she had, a soft, startled noise left her as she lifted her hand to her mouth. She could feel her cheeks burning with a blush.

Frantically, she tried to push the incident to the back of her mind, controlling her fluctuating reiatsu and chakra to the best of her ability. Slowly, she started to push herself off of the floor, ever mindful of her hurt ankle. Dusting herself down gently she closed her eyes and sighed, managing to eventually decently ignore and forget the moment as she reminded herself of the task she had been set.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later she was stood outside of the almost extravagant (in the way of its size) cell that housed Itachi. The man in question was sat there, cross legged and looking deceptively calm and almost at home.

He wasn't shackled or anything. Didn't look injured. All he had on was the blindfold and the clothes he had arrived in. He looked comfortable and this confused Sakura. She almost thought he seemed a little smug.

Despite not seeing her he murmured, "Sakura Haruno. So they sent you to interrogate me?" A smile even tugged very slightly at the corner of his mouth when Sakura flinched at being addressed, mumbling a hesitant confirmation. She couldn't help but be worried and tense. Itachi Uchiha was a wanted criminal in the world of shinobi and everything in her being was screaming at her to either run away or kill him.

"I apologise for the injuries I caused you," were his next words, and Sakura jolted violently in shock. That was _not_ expected. She didn't think she was going to hear that come out of his mouth and spluttered for a moment as she wondered how she should reply. Eventually she just asked, "If I end up questioning you, will you answer?"

"It depends on the question. Anything related to the Akatsuki, I'm going to have to politely decline."

"Ah, nothing like that." Sakura moved to sit down very gently on her knees in front of the bars of the cell, watching him. "I – _we_ – want to know what you're planning to do now that you are here in Seireitei."

"I'm not planning on doing anything. The only reason why I stopped attacking you, Sakura Haruno, was that I realised I would gain nothing from doing so. This place you call Seireitei is nothing like the countries we come from, there is nothing here that I am fighting for. Though, I am curious as to something myself."

"Which is?" Sakura decided that she could give Itachi the chance to ask his own question.

"Many shinobi have died before you. To mean no offence, some were noble and courageous, powerful even more so than yourself...yet you were the first one to come to such a place like this." Itachi lifted a hand to sweep across himself around the room. "My question is; why were you the first to arrive in this place? What sets you aside from the rest that have died before? It's something that piques my curiosity."

Sakura had the feeling that if Itachi's blindfold were off, he would be staring intently at her. Weakly, she shrugged, staring down at her lap. "I do not know. I wish to know the answer myself. The circumstances in which I entered this world aside from our own have eluded me as well. I'm sorry I could not tell you."

"That is no matter. Am I right in guessing that you have more questions to ask?"

Sakura nodded, shifting her weight. "Why are _you_ here Uchiha?"

"I cannot answer that Sakura Haruno, simply because I do not have the answer myself. If I knew why any of us here, perhaps the reason would be the same for myself." All of a sudden he was close to bars, right opposite her, hand having reached out to grasp her wrist tightly. Sakura was startled, and then instantly started berating herself. Itachi wasn't in shackles because he had no reiatsu to bind. This didn't mean he didn't have chakra, and even if the bars were in the way and capable of absorbing attack and power, Sakura's close proximity meant that Itachi could no doubt cause her some serious damage.

As she cringed back, waiting for pain, waiting for _anything_ she realised that Itachi had loosened his grip, just simply holding her wrist very gently yet firmly as he spoke. "Maybe we are all here for a reason that is bigger than all of us. For something such as this to occur, with you being the first to cross and then others following shortly after their deaths when such a thing has not happened before, perhaps there is something important behind it. You may even be the key to start off this chain of events." With that cryptic message, Itachi let go of her hand, fingertips dragging across her skin as he pulled away, sitting opposite her calmly once more. "Is there anything more that you wished to ask of me?"

"T-Those were the only two questions that I was instructed to ask of you. However, a question of my own." Sakura cradled her wrist protectively close, scooting back a few inches, out of his reach. "Do you mean any harm to Seireitei or her people?"

"I have no reason nor intention to bring any harm to anyone or anything here. Not even to those of the Leaf and Sand villages."

Sakura eyed him sceptically for a moment before sighing through her nose and nodding wearily. "Seireitei isn't at war like our lands were on the brink of. There is no reason to fight here, and you are only one man against an army after all. Are you hungry?" Sakura didn't know what possessed her, but she pasted the question onto the end of her sentence. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

The surprise that Itachi seemed to exude upon her questions was almost tangible before he murmured, "Cabbage and onigiri, with seaweed within, if you are truly offering."

"I haven't had lunch yet and some questions I have are still unanswered. Truthfully there are many things I want to know about _you_ Uchiha. I won't ask about the Akatsuki or any other dealings like such, but the Bingo Book was very sparse on information about you...and I'm curious." She gave a sheepish laugh. Sakura hadn't expected Itachi to be the polite, refined person that he was and it came as a pleasant surprise.

"Curiosity is only natural. There are questions that I would like answered as well, if possible." Sakura watched as Itachi's face pinched just slightly as he thought.

"About Sasuke?" Sakura enquired softly, very carefully pushing herself up. She reached to grab onto a bar of the cell to drag her bad ankle from the floor and Itachi was suddenly on his feet opposite her, hand on her shoulder steadying her. She flinched again, but sensed no malice from him. His face was downcast and she was certain if she saw his eyes, that there would be upset swimming within their depths.

"About Sasuke," Itachi murmured his confirmation. "And again, Sakura Haruno, I apologise for the injuries I caused you."

Sakura stepped back, out of his touch, and he calmly folded himself down gracefully until he was sat again. Sakura watched him for a moment before turning to the door and walking away.

"I'll await your return," was said softly after her before the door finished closing.

We leave now, with more questions arising than answers being given. When the conversation is resumed between Itachi Uchiha and Sakura Haruno who knows what information will unfold.

Perhaps we are better off not knowing.

* * *

Oh god, I can't believe I got this chapter out. It's just been sitting there for ages on my laptop and I had no idea what to do with it until just recently. Who knew procrastinating revision for a math exam I know barely anything about would be so productive?

Anyway, huge apologies for the lack of _anything_ being updated. I have very nearly finished my exams (last one on the 25th of June! Can't wait until it's over) and after that I have a few weeks free to write chapters for other stories and for this one too (around four weeks but only two of them will have internet access). After that I have work experience at a veterinary practice but about three weeks free after that until I go to France. Hopefully you can expect updates within the next handful of weeks!

Hoping you enjoyed this chapter!


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